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V *•.•"-► 







KNOWING THE MASTER 
THROUGH JOHN 


An Interpretation in the Light of 
Modern Thought and Understanding 


/ u 




Knowing the Master 
Through John 

An Interpretation in the Light of Modern 
Thought and Understanding 


By 

AARON MARTIN CRANE 

I 

Author of Right and Wrong Thinking and Their Results,” 
**A Search After Ultimate Truth,” and "Ask and Receive” 




BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 












1B)S'2-c;\S 

■Cl 


Copyright, 1926, 

By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 
All Rights Reserved 
Knowing the Master Through John 


Printed in U. S. A. 


’WorwooD pre00 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 
Norwood, Mass. 



© C1A890715 






FOREWORD 


The Gospel of St. John is the greatest of all Chris¬ 
tian writings. Nowhere else is there such an intimate 
presentation of the teachings of Jesus as is given by 
the ‘‘ Beloved Disciple.’^ 

Hence it is more profoundly mystical in parts than 
any of the other Gospels. It is true that all may 
draw great comfort from it, that the least learned re¬ 
spond to the divine love which pervades it as quickly 
and warmly as do the most scholarly, and are equally 
moved to all the depths of their natures by its sublime 
pathos. But only a teacher of great learning, tireless 
research, utmost sincerity, and exceptional spirituality 
can interpret all of it in its fullness. No other should 
attempt it; few would even make the attempt. 

To those who knew him well, among whom I was 
numbered as his publisher, the late Aaron Martin Crane 
was the one qualified to make this contribution to 
Christian knowledge and Christian faith. Few have 
been the lives that have so moved many, in all rever¬ 
ence, to think of the life of the Great Teacher. 

Thus it was entirely natural that the ones who were 
privileged to be of Mr. Crane’s Bible Class should 

especially treasure the lessons given to the Gospel of 

5 


6 


FOREWORD 


John; that these lessons should be carefully preserved 
by stenographic notes; and that there should grow a 
compelling demand they be given to the world as a 
book. 

With the teacher gone, it was a matter of great re¬ 
sponsibility to present these studies in a way to do 
justice to the one who gave so richly of himself in 
preparation for their outgiving in spoken form. This 
labor of love has been performed by a devoted mem¬ 
ber of the Class, who has given to her work many 
months of conscientious painstaking, assisted when 
necessary by an able teacher of Greek, in order that 
as much as possible of Mr. Crane’s scholarly helpful¬ 
ness might be retained. Each of the thirty-five chap¬ 
ters of this book represents what was given at a ses¬ 
sion of the Class, and combined to make a harmonious 
interpretation of the life and precepts of “ Him who 
spake as never man spake,” drawn from the highest 
source, they go out in the hope that those who read 
may feel their lives made better by the awakening of 
mind, heart, and soul, even as did those who listened 
while Mr. Crane taught. 


Warren Fenno Gregory. 


CONTENTS 


I. A Fundamental Principle in the Teach¬ 
ing OF Jesus.9 

II. Creation. 22 

III. The Light that Lighteth Every Man . 31 

IV. The Introduction of Jesus by John the 

Baptist . . . ... .41 

V. The Miracle at Cana .... 32 

VI. The Cleansing of the Temple ... 63 

VII. The Interview WITH Nicodemus . . 88 

VIII. Salvation and Damnation . . .100 

IX. The Farewell OF John THE Baptist . .111 

X. The Conversation with the Woman at the 

Well.123 

XI. The Father and the Son . . . .140 

XII. The Bread OF Life FROM Heaven . . 135 

XIII. The Feast OF Tabernacles . . .173 

XIV. The Woman Taken in Adultery . . 193 

XV. Freedom.203 

XVI. Conclusion of the Tabernacles Discourse 223 

XVII. Healing the Man Born Blind . . . 242 

XVIII. The Good Shepherd.261 

XIX. I AND THE Father are One . . . 277 

XX. The Raising of Lazarus .... 290 

XXL The Public Entry Into Jerusalem . . 308 

XXII. Events OF THE Last Week . . *323 

7 



8 CONTENTS 

XXIII. Jesus Washing THE Disciples’Feet . 338 

XXIV. Judas AND His Motives . . . *3^2 

XXV. The Way, The Truth, and The Life . 367 

XXVI. The Abiding Presence of the Holy 

Spirit .j8i 

XXVII. The True Vine. 399 

XXVIII. Love. 412 

XXIX. Guidance of the Spirit .... 429 

XXX. The Prayer. 443 

XXXI. The Prayer That They All May Be One 466 

XXXII. Arrest AND Trial OF Jesus . . . 480 

XXXI 11 . Trial AND Execution OF Jesus . . 499 

XXXIV. The Resurrection .... 523 

XXXV. The Meeting AT THE Lake • 546 





Knowing the Master 
Through John 

I 

A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE IN THE 
TEACHING OF JESUS 

In the last chapter of Luke is recorded an account 
of the appearance of Jesus to his disciples after his 
crucifixion. The narrative sets forth the facts in the 
simplest possible form without attempting to empha¬ 
size the importance of the event. It concludes with 
the following declaration, which, coming at this time 
and under these circumstances, has peculiar signifi¬ 
cance : 

Then opened he their understanding {mind — 
R. V.), that they might understand the scriptures. 

And said unto them. Thus it is written, and thus 
it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead 
the third day: 

‘‘ And that repentance and remission of sins should 
be preached in his name among all nations, beginning 
at Jerusalem.” 

It has seemed to be the fate of every great teacher 

to be misunderstood. As we look back through the 

9 


10 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


years since the time of Jesus’ teaching, it appears that 
he has not only not been understood, but that he has 
been greatly misunderstood. We remember that 
phrase of his, '' But I say unto you which hear” and 
also, “ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” It is 
the hearer whom Jesus wishes to reach, the one who 
hears and understands. 

It has been said that the sayings of Jesus which we 
find in the Bible are merely detached statements ut¬ 
tered by him at various times, and that they are with¬ 
out connection, without relationship to each other. It 
has even been said that these utterances of his do not 
harmonize one with another. Every statement of 
truth must be related to every other statement, and 
each may be traced back to that truth which we shall 
find is the support on which the whole rests. This 
basic truth is the Absolute Truth, and every phase of 
this truth is always in harmony with every other phase 
of it. 

Every great religious or moral movement must have 
somewhat of truth in it. While the untruth divides, 
truth is indivisible. So we must look closely, must 
judge cautiously, and while we reject the untruth be 
very careful that we do not reject the truth. If what 
Jesus said is indeed true, it must stand in close rela¬ 
tionship with that underlying truth which is the Abso¬ 
lute Truth, and every statement which he uttered will 


A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 11 

bear relation to every other statement, as well as be in 
harmony each with the other. 

There is sound philosophy in Jesus' teachings. An 
underlying principle exists in all that he said, which, 
if we but look with open eyes and without prejudice, 
we shall see, and seeing, we shall understand. In¬ 
deed, in the very nature of things this must be so. 
The greatest fact that Jesus taught, the one of first 
importance, is the one which underlies all things, all 
truth, and to which all truth is related,—that every¬ 
thing refers back at last to God, the Supreme Being. 
And as we more clearly see and understand, we shall 
discern how close is the relationship between ourselves 
and this great First Cause, the Infinite Being, whom 
Jesus told us to call Our Father." 

Jesus taught in a most practical way an entirely new 
method of reform. Philosophers and psychologists of 
to-day tell us that mind is first, that mind action is the 
first action, and that without mind action there is no 
action of the physical body. And if we examine our¬ 
selves we shall find it to be true that our activities are 
all the result of mind actions, and that without mind 
action there is no bodily action whatever. What the 
psychologists tell us is therefore correct, that the bodily 
action, the action of the human being, is distinctly and 
definitely in accordance with the mental action which 
precedes it. In other words, the bodily action always 


12 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

responds to the mental action. A certain kind of men¬ 
tal stimulation acts on the tear glands and we shed 
tears; a certain kind of mentality stimulates another 
kind of activity and we laugh. In a similar manner 
hate causes one kind of activity and love another. I 
lift my hand because I think to lift my hand; I move 
it to the right or left, all in accordance with my think¬ 
ing. 

These are but simple illustrations but we may go a 
little farther and observe the relation of this principle 
to morality itself. Every action which we perform is 
accomplished because we thought about it. The thief 
steals because he thinks about stealing; the liar lies 
because he thinks about lying; the murderer kills be¬ 
cause he thinks about killing. If the thief stops think¬ 
ing about stealing he cannot steal; if the liar stops 
thinking about lying he cannot lie; if the murderer 
stops thinking about killing he cannot kill. I may be 
so angry as to wish to kill the man I think is an enemy, 
but in the very heat of that anger, if I stop thinking 
about it, if I stop the angry thought, killing would be 
an impossibility for me. The thought must be in the 
mind first before the action can be performed. It 
needs no explanation to show the importance of this 
principle from the moral point of view. 

There is an element in the constitution of man, in 
the way man is made, which makes the consciousness 


A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 


13 


of this principle an innate truth within himself as 
regards all moral living. What man ever contem¬ 
plated any wrong act who did not first within himself 
hear the “ still small voice ” of conscience protesting,, 
who did not first hear the divine prohibition “ Thou ' 
' shalt not ” ? 

The recognition of this principle is evident through¬ 
out the whole of Jesus’ teaching. Perhaps in no place 
does he proclaim it more strongly than in what he says 
concerning lust: ‘'Ye have heard that it was said by 
them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 
but I say unto you. That whosoever looketh on a 
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with 
her already in his heart.” ‘ 

John the Baptist when he was announcing the com¬ 
ing of Jesus, speaking metaphorically said, “And now 
the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore 
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn 
down, and cast into the fire.” * This is a categorical 
statement directly in line with the principle we are 
discussing. The root of all action is thinking. Jesus 
therefore laid the axe at the root of the tree of adul¬ 
tery and destroyed it, that the tree no more might 
grow. 

It is the same with regard to killing, for he says, 
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, 

* Matt. V. 27, 28. “ Matt. iii. 10. 


14 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be 
in danger of the judgment.” Now anger is the root 
of murder; the angry thought has only to be culti¬ 
vated, enlarged, to result in killing, and Jesus knowing 
this applies the axe directly to the root of the tree for 
he adds, “ But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry 
with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment,” ‘ 
thus referring to the thought which produces the out¬ 
ward action. He puts precisely the same penalty upon 
anger in the heart,—anger which has had no expres¬ 
sion whatever,—that the law places upon killing, mur¬ 
der ; while for anger which finds verbal expression, the 
penalty is even greater.* Thus we see that we are to 
stop thinking the thought which produces wrong re¬ 
sults. 

Again Jesus says, “ Judge not.” ^ We think that we 
have a right to judge, that we ought to condemn the 
man who has done wrong. But Jesus says, Judge 
not,—condemn not.” Condemnation is a mental con¬ 
dition; it is a mental action. There is a decided dif¬ 
ference between knowing the error, and condemnation 
because of that error. We most certainly are to know 
the wrong which presents itself to us and to beware 
of it, but that does not necessitate condemnation of 
the wrong-doer, of the person committing the sin or 

*Matt. V. 21, 22. Revised Version omits “without cause.” 

* Matt. V. 22. * Matt. vii. I. 


A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 


15 


mistake. We see the erroneous act of our friend and 
know that it is erroneous, yet this does not necessitate 
a change of heart towards him. It is the error that 
we are to let alone; the error thought that we are to 
put away. 

So we may study any one of Jesus’ precepts and we 
shall find them all in harmony with this principle which 
we are discussing. Take that great ethical precept, 

** Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them.” ^ This ap¬ 
plies to thoughts as well as to actions and to thoughts 
first of all because wrong actions are the result of 
wrong thoughts. Without the wrong thought, the 
wrong action would not occur. What would be the 
condition if the whole world complied with this one 
precept? If we should all of us immediately stop 
thinking wrong thoughts, if all thoughts of evil were 
to be excluded at once from the mind, there would be - 
left thoughts of truth only; heaven itself would be here 

f 

now. 

We find the same principle applies to forgiveness. 
When you wish to be forgiven, whether you are aware 
of it or not, your desire is that your friend shall put 
out of his thought, out of his consciousness, everything 
connected with the wrong which you have done. You 
wish him to put entirely away all recollection, all rec- 


‘Matt. vii. 12. 


16 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

ognition of this error which you have committed. In 
other words, you wish to be left in exactly the same 
position, in his thought of you, that you would have 
been in had you not committed the mistake. Indeed 
this is the true meaning of the Greek word which 
in the New Testament is translated forgive.’^ It 
means simply “ to put away; to give up; to be done 
with.” 

Then, too, we should remember that Jesus nowhere 
tells any one to hold back his forgiveness until for¬ 
giveness is asked. According to his teaching we are 
to forgive the moment we find anything to be for¬ 
given. There is also another thought in this connec¬ 
tion. You remember the question of Peter as to how 
many times he should forgive. As many as seven 
times ? And the Master replied, “ I say not unto thee. 
Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”* 
The extent of your forgiveness is to be complete and 
for all time. 

Here we touch again a question of humanity. We 
say it takes two to quarrel, it takes two to be angry; 
then if two are angry, and if one resolutely and suc¬ 
cessfully puts the angry thought away,—out of mind, 
—the other must ultimately give it up also. Let us 
not forget this when we repeat that central petition of 
the prayer we call “ Our Lord’s Prayer,” ‘‘ Forgive us 

‘Matt, xviii. 21, 22. 


A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 17 

our debts as we forgive our debtors,” meaning, for¬ 
give us what'we owe to others as we have forgiven 
what others owe to us. This may sound prosaic and 
commonplace, but it is something that every one of us 
ought to practise if we are true to ourselves. 

But the teaching of Jesus does not stop with mere 
negative injunctions. We are not merely to refrain 
from condemnation, not merely to put away,—forgive, 
—the wrong. Jesus adds to this the positive behest 
to love our enemies, for he says, Ye have heard that 
it hath been said. Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and 
hate thine enemy. But I say unto you. Love your 
enemies.” Men from that day to this have said, ‘‘ I 
cannot love my enemy.” They have said this because 
they did not recognize their own peculiarities, did not 
know their own powers or capabilities. It is true that 
the human mind is so constituted that it cannot do two 
opposite things at the same time; it cannot love and 
hate at one and the same time. Love and hate are 
diametrically opposed to each other, and we cannot 
love until we get hate out of the mind. 

It is well known that we can train ourselves to stop 
thinking any one thought and think another in its 
place.' And if we can exclude one wrong thought, 
that is proof that we may exclude all wrong thoughts. 

^ For a fuller discussion of this subject, see Right and Wrong 
Thinking and Their Results, by the same author. 


18 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN' 


It is but a question of training ourselves. It is not 
that we are to call wrong right, or black white; we 
are not to change our opinion regarding the error we 
see in the man, we are simply to change our own men¬ 
tal attitude towards the man and stop hating him. And 
when we have stopped hating our enemy, then we are 
in the condition to begin loving him. In like simple 
manner we can go on until we have learned to love 
even our worst enemy; he will then no longer be an 
enemy. 

Therefore Jesus says, ‘‘ Love your enemies, . . . 

That ye may be‘ the children of your Father which 
is in heaven.” From this he goes on to that final and 
supreme declaration, ‘‘ Be ye therefore perfect, even 
as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” * or, as 
rendered in the Revised Version, “ Ye therefore shall 
be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

We have our great example in Jesus himself who 
showed such divine love for enemies. As the records 
indicate, it was within a few moments after Judas had 
left the room to betray him, that Jesus, knowing for 


* There is no contradiction in Jesus’ meaning at this place. 
When he says, “That ye may be children of your Father” he 
means that you may manifest yourselves as such. We are the 
children of our Father now, but if we love our enemies, or 
when we love our enemies, we shall manifest that fact. In lov¬ 
ing our enemies, we shall the more truly express our relation¬ 
ship to the Father. 


* Matt. V. 43-48. 


A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE ' 19 

what purpose he had gone, yet uttered these well- 
remembered words, ‘'A new commandment I give unto 
you. That ye love one another; as I have loved you, 
that ye also love one another.’* ’ Judas had gone with¬ 
out any interference from the Master who might have 
stopped him with a look. But had he not said “ Re¬ 
sist not evil ” ? And was he not always obedient to 
his own precepts? Jesus loved Judas at that moment, 
though all the Christian world has execrated him from 
that day to this. 

A little while afterwards Jesus told his disciples 
how he had loved them: ‘‘As the Father hath loved 
me, so have I loved you.” * In such love as this there 
can be no wrong thinking, no discordant thinking of 
any kind whatsoever. Here we reach the heights of 
absolute truth, where is only perfection. 

Therefore, if we stop all discordant thoughts, all 
wrong or erroneous thoughts, we have reached the 
point where we shall begin to manifest perfection. 
And having reached the condition where every error 
has been put from the mind, we are then just enter¬ 
ing in at the door, we are just passing over the thresh¬ 
old into that place where we shall perceive the truth 
of God’s being, the truth of God’s creation, in all its 
infinite vastness. Here there are no restrictions, no 
prohibitions, but perfect, absolute freedom, and here 
‘John xiii. 34. ‘John xv. 9. 


20 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

we shall at last realize the truth regarding ourselves 
and our relation to Him. This is the simple, plain 
road by which we may approach perfection, and the 
farther we travel on this road now, the less distance 
we shall have to go by and by; each step is a step 
gained; each step is a step taken forever. 

We are all striving for better things; every one is 
seeking for that unattained good which he sees just 
before him, and when each has accomplished that, there 
appears before him a good not before seen. And so 
he goes onward from one good to another. And no 
man nor child of God will ever be content until he 
has reached the great good of absolute perfection. 
This is because we are children of God, and have in 
our constitution that which necessitates this growth 
towards perfection. 

Thus it was peculiarly fitting that Jesus should say 
as quoted at the beginning of this chapter: ‘‘Repent¬ 
ance and remission of sins should be preached in his 
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” 
“ Repentance ” means simply “ a change of mind ”; 
and “ remission ” means “ a putting away.” So it 
might read: “A change of mind, unto the putting 
away of all error, all sin, should be preached in his 
name.” 

This is the scientific principle which underlies Jesus’ 
teaching, and the glory of it is that we may each of us. 


A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 


21 


by his help and through the recognition of the truth, 
go forward until we ourselves have become perfected 
even as he admonished us. This is within the scope 
and power of every one. 


f 


II 


CREATION 
(John L 1-5) 

The most sublime writings in all literature are to be 
found in the Bible, and there is nothing there that is 
more sublime, more pregnant with meaning, or of 
deeper interest than the opening verses of the Book 
of John. They contain a complete philosophy touch¬ 
ing all life, from God to the humblest manifestation. 

“ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word was God. 

** The same was in the beginning with God. 

‘‘ All things were made by Him; and without Him 
was not any thing made that was made. 

“ In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. 

And the light shineth in darkness; and the dark¬ 
ness comprehended it not.” 

These passages are among the most difficult of 
translation of any in the New Testament. Hebrew 
scholars tell us that the phrase, “ In the beginning,” 
which opens the Book of John, is full of significance 

to the Jewish mind, being fraught with greater mean- 

22 


CREATION 


23 


ing than we generally attribute to the expression. The 
translation so far as words are concerned is accurate, 
yet it is difficult to express clearly the meaning intended 
to be conveyed by the original. It is the meaning 
which the Hebrews attached to the phrase that we 
desire to get at. The expression does not refer in 
itself specifically to time.‘ It is a phrase by which the 
Hebrews undertook to designate that mysterious, fleet¬ 
ing, and yet ever stable quality, without which a thing 
would not be. In other words, it refers to the centre 
of things, the substance of things. So here in this 
instance it means just that and, instead of being merely 
an introductory phrase, it relates to the whole of the 
sentence. Thus you see we have a meaning here of 
greater importance than at first appears, not merely. 
First there was the Word or Logos, but rather, Under¬ 
lying everything was the Word or Logos. 

In the beginning was the Logos.” The Greek 
word Logos ” which is translated “ Word ” in our 
Bible, is absolutely untranslatable into English if we 
wish to obtain its full meaning. “ Logos ” is generally 
understood to mean the spoken or written word, and 
that translation is accurate so far as it goes, but it is 
incomplete. The word Logos ” includes in its mean¬ 
ing the thought in the mind before it found expression, 

*The phrase “In the beginning” is sometimes translated “In 
the original or originally ”; or “ In the essential,—essentially.” 


24 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

and also the expression of that thought in every form 
in which it may be made. 

But that is not all, for, in the vastness of its mean¬ 
ing, the word “ Logos ” goes even behind the thought 
and includes the mind itself. Therefore it includes 
within its meaning, the mind, the thought, and the 
expression of that thought. Thus you see it is im¬ 
possible properly to translate this word into English. 
Our best scholars regret that the translation was ever 
attempted and wish that it had been brought over into 
the English unchanged. 

In the beginning was the Logos.” In the begin¬ 
ning was Mind; mind action, or thinking; thought, 
the result of mind action; and the expression of that 
thought in the spoken or written word, or in any form 
whatsoever. Or, expressed in a different form, we 
might say: In the essential of things was Mind and 
its action and results and consequences of all kinds. 
The immensity of the idea is overwhelming; it is be¬ 
yond our comprehension. 

“And the Logos was with God, and the Logos was 
God.” The Logos was God, the Infinite Mind, without 
which not anything is. We say sometimes that “ God 
is Mind,” but there is nowhere in the English lan¬ 
guage or in any language, a more wonderful form of 
expressing this idea in its fullness than is found in 


CREATION 


25 


this first verse of the Gospel of John. It touches the 
very pinnacle of sublimity. 

This Infinite Mind is infinite in all its particulars, 
pervading all that you can imagine of infinite space, 
infinite existence, and it stands as the unchangeable 
foundation upon which all science is built. It was, 
and is, and ever will be, because it is infinite. There¬ 
fore, in the beginning was God, the Essential; He who 
is the All-Present, the Everywhere-Present, and who 
in His infinity includes all that is. With Him, in Him, 
is contained all that mind ever expressed, all that mind 
ever conceived, all that mind ever will conceive, or 
express. If the idea seems beyond our power to grasp, 
let us remember that it is impossible for us to com¬ 
prehend in its fullness this Infinite Mind, this Infinite 
Being, which is God. 

“All things were made by Him; and without Him 
was not any thing made that was made.” The word 
that is translated “ were made ” occurs many times 
in the New Testament and has fifty different ren¬ 
derings, according to the places where it is found. 
For instance, in the words of Jesus already re¬ 
ferred to: ‘‘ Love your enemies, . . . that ye 

may be the children of your Father which is in 
heaven.” The word that is translated “ may be ” is 
from the same Greek word as “ is made ” and “ was 
made,” and also “were made” in the place we are 


26 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

here considering, that is, they are but different forms 
of the same word. ** Were made ” as used in the 
original Greek means simply, to be born, to become, 
to come into being.’' The word ‘‘ made ” as used in 
this passage is not used with the meaning generally 
attributed to it,—that of something physical or ma¬ 
terial made with the hands. But it is used in a spiri¬ 
tual sense and with the meaning of,—“ to create, to 
produce, to cause to be ”; or as one dictionary has it, 
—to be the author of; to cause to exist; to call into 
being or distinct existence.” 

‘‘All things were made by Him,” that is, were ex¬ 
pressed or manifested by Him and through Him. All 
things were made by God, or, were expressed into 
being out of Himself. Here is the source of all ex¬ 
istence; everything that exists is not only in God but 
from Him. Thus all things were in the Infinite Mind 
and were disclosed or revealed, were expressed’ or 
made manifest ’ by that Mind, the Logos, God.* 

**And without Him was not any thing made that was 
made.” A difficulty in translation occurs in this sen¬ 
tence. The Greek manuscripts from which our New 
Testament was translated were written after the man- 

* The expression “ made manifest ” means, “ to make known, 
to reveal, to disclose that which is unseen.” The Standard Dic¬ 
tionary ^ves as one meaning of “ express,”—“ to make or mani¬ 
fest the image or likeness of.” 

M Search After Ultimate Truth, Chapters XXXVIII and 
XXXIX, “Creation.” 


CREATION 


27 


ner of the Greeks at that time, and they used no punc¬ 
tuation marks and no spaces between the words, the 
letters being set down in lines across the page/ So it 
is not to be wondered at that sometimes the entire 
meaning was not clearly or even exactly rendered. 
The complete quotation from the marginal rendering 
in the Revised Version is as follows: 


“All things were made by Him (or through Him); 
and without Him was not any thing made. That which 
hath been made was life in Him; and the life was the 
light of men.'’ 

“ That which hath been made was life in God ”; 
was life in the Eternal and Infinite Logos. This is in 
exact harmony, you see, with the first words of the 
declaration, that the Logos,—which is the Infinite 
Mind or God,—contained within itself, all mind and 
all mind action. There was in all infinity, no other 
substance but this Infinite Mind, this Infinite Life, 
which is God. Thus we see that all existing creation 


* For example, in the original Greek the word order for this 
passage is as follows: “and without Him was made nothing 
which hath been made in Him life was.” In the Authorized or 
King James Version these words have been divided into two 
sentences, the first one ending with the second “made,” leaving 
the second sentence as our familiar, “In Him was life.” In 
the Revised Version the division into sentences is made after the 
word “nothing,” and,—“which hath been made in Him life was,” 
is rendered, “ That which hath been made was life in Him.” 


28 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

was made out of God’s own life. Every living being 
is of that Infinite Life. Therefore your life is of the 
substance of His life; your origin, the origin of each 
individual, is in God. Jesus recognized this when he 
told us to call God "" father/' God is our Father, and 
when we repeat the wonderful words of “ Our Lord’s 
Prayer,” we can say with absolute truthfulness, Our 
Father.” 

But He is even more than our Father. Closer than 
any possible human relationship is the relationship 
which you and I, every one of us, bear to God. All 
things were created by Him, and without Him was not 
anything created. That which hath been brought into 
being by Him was out of the Infinite, Divine Life. 
And because of this, our lives are indeed sacred and 
divine, and not only that, but the life which God has 
given us is eternal. 

''And the life was the light of men.” This life is 
the light that shines in and through you; it is your 
life, your very existence. Therefore when troubles 
assail, when grief afflicts, when the trials and tribula¬ 
tions of the world assault, step into the silence of your 
inner self, which is your real self, and recognize that, 
as enduring as God Himself, is your own life, your 
own individuality, which is of Him and is not touched 
by external appearances. 


CREATION , 29 

‘‘And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness 
comprehended it not.”" 

This light of which John is speaking is the light of 
the Infinite Mind and it shines everywhere. It shines 
in the darkness of the world of materiality but that 
world of materiality knows not of it. What is dark¬ 
ness? Darkness in the physical world is merely the 
absence of light; that is all. According to the testi¬ 
mony of our material senses we think we feel and 
recognize darkness as a reality with the same kind of 
recognition we give to light, but darkness is in itself 
absolutely nothing, merely the absence of light. 
Through all the ages of the world men have set dark¬ 
ness in opposition to light but light is the reality, and 
the light of you, the light of your intelligence, the 
light of your mind, is that which constitutes you. 

We have here the answer to the great question that 
is asked by all humanity; the question of the child, and 
of the old man; the question that is asked by every one 
all the way along. “ Whence am I ? ” “ Whence did 
I come ? ” I am from God, and that which within me 


* The Revised Version gives the word “ apprehended ” rather 
than “comprehended,” and the Revised Version, Margin gives 
the word “ overcame.” We might say, “ The darkness under¬ 
stood or recognized it not.” Or, “The darkness did not over¬ 
come the light, it did not prevail.” The same Greek word in 
John xii. 35 Revised Version, is there translated, “that darkness 
overtake you not.” The word in the original really means 
“seize” like our “grasp.” 


3Q KNOWING THB MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

is the true, the real, and the enduring, is of God's own 
life, and I therefore, in the essential of myself, am 
divine. This is our grand origin and each individual 
may thus truthfully say of himself, “ I am from God." 

These wonderful declarations found at the beginning 
of John's Gospel refer to something which has always 
existed and which Jesus came to reveal to us more 
perfectly and more clearly than we had ever before 
perceived. He showed the way by which every one 
might come into a fuller recognition of the true spir¬ 
itual being of himself. 


Ill 


THE LIGHT THAT LIGHTETH EVERY MAN 

(John I. 6-14) 

The principal thought discussed in the previous 
chapter was,—“All things were made by Him, God, the 
Logos.” We should remember that the personal pro¬ 
noun as used in these verses in the first part of the 
Book of John refers distinctly to the Word, the Logos, 
the Infinite Mind or God. Let us also remember that 
the words “ were made ” are not used in the sense of 
making as we generally understand that word, but 
rather in the sense of manifestation or expression. All 
things were expressed or revealed by the Infinite Mind, 
as you, for instance, express to another the thought 
which is in your mind. All things were expressed by 
Him; and without Him was not anything made, mani¬ 
fested, or expressed. That which hath been made, 
that which hath been expressed, or made manifest, was 
life in Him and is an expression of that life, an ex¬ 
pression of the Infinite Mind,—as your thought which 
you express to another is an expression of your own 
mind. And in a similar manner we might say that 
as your thought is an indivisible and inseparable part 

of your mind, so are all these expressions which God 

31 


32 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

has made manifest, inseparable and indivisible parts 
of His own Mind, of His own Life. 

Life and Mind are here used interchangeably as we 
speak of any of the essentials of God. Whether we 
speak of Him as Mind or Life, as Truth or Love, or 
by whatever characteristic we may wish to designate 
Him, we are but referring to the different conceptions 
which we may have of the one Infinite Life or Mind 
which is God." This Life is the light of men. It is 
your light; and your intelligence, your perception of 
truth, is from that inner life of your own being which 
is of God’s Life. 

The next verse in order is a sort of parenthetical 
statement introducing John, the Baptist. 

* 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was 
John. 

** The same came for a witness, to bear witness of 
the Light, that all men through him might believe. 

He (John) was not that Light (the Logos, or 
God), but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 

‘‘ That was the true Light, which lighteth every 
man * that cometh into the world.” 

All things were made by Him, the Logos, our Fa¬ 
ther, and the light of His truth lighteth every man 

* And this idea may be enlarged to include every essential or 
characteristic which we may attribute to God. See “A Search 
After Ultimate Truth,” Part Three. 

^ The Greek word here translated “ man ” is the generic word, 
meaning human being,—^man, woman or child. 


THE LIGHT THAT LIGHTETH EVERY MAN 33 

that cometh into the world. It is the light of every 
human being, the essential of each intelligence. Jesus, 
in complete harmony with this, gave us his ethical rule 
whereby we may bring the kingdom of heaven, which 
is the kingdom of God, right here on earth now if we 
will, for he said, ''As ye would (as ye would) that 
men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”' 
He showed us the lofty standard for all human action, 
and the issue is left, not to the Bible, nor to any writ¬ 
ten law, not to any outside authority, not even to the 
Father Himself, but to the light of truth which shines 
in every man. It is not to be wondered'at if we stand 
in awe of this sublime fact regarding ourselves, but 
once we really comprehend the idea in its fullness we 
shall find that no task is really too great for us. 

This Infinite Light is the " true Light that lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world.” It shines 
throughout all existence. It can never go out for it 
is eternal,—the Everlasting Light It shines even in 
the darkness, but the darkness perceiving it not, or 
understanding it not, denies it, or is in opposition to 
it, and just in proportion to our realization of this, 
will the darkness of which we seem so conscious be 
overcome. 

" He (the true Light, or God) was in the world, and 
the world was made by Him, and the world knew 
(recognized) Him not. 

‘ Luke vi. 31. 



34 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

** He came unto His own, and His own received 
Him not.” 

As we look back over the history of the world and 
upon conditions as they exist to-day, how much does 
the world of materiality recognize God? How much 
does it recognize Him as the Infinite Light, the One 
Infinite Mind? 

** But as many as received Him, to them gave He 
power to become ^ the sons of God, even to them that 
believe on His name.” 

But as many as received Him,” that is, as many 
as received or recognized the Light (and it is only 
light that recognizes light) ; as many as perceived the 
truth, to them gave He the power to manifest them¬ 
selves as the sons of God. The Greek word is not 
“ sons ” at this place, and the passage in the Revised 
Version reads, But as many as received Him, to them 
gave He the right to become children of God.” 

Think of it! It is to you, in so far as you each 
accept, recognize, or perceive this truth of the light 
which shines within you, that the ability is given by 
which you may become a child of God, or may mani¬ 
fest yourself as such. For it means, “As many as 

* Here again we have in the expression " to become,’* the same 
verb which in translation has so many different renderings. 
See a parallel illustration in the use of the verb “may he” in 
Matt. V. 45. 


THE LIGHT THAT LIGHTETH EVERY MAN 35 


received Him, to them gave He power ” to show that 
they are the sons of God; the children of God. We 
are children of the Highest now, and we have only to 
manifest that fact and to let the light shine. 

We have been taught to look to Jesus as peculiarly 
the Son of God, and he was the Son of God, mani¬ 
festing that relationship to a greater degree than any 
other being, but simply because he let his light shine, 
and did not hide it when there was opportunity after 
opportunity for its hiding. Look at the temptation 
that came to him in the wilderness when he might have 
hid his light and have become a ruler of the material 
world, and at those other occasions where he was 
tempted to become an earthly king, and see how he 
escaped from the temptation. Look, too, at that last 
great temptation, a few days after his entrance into 
Jerusalem. The people wished to make him king, and 
because he would not, but departed from them, they 
lost faith in him and rejected him, and later, crucified 
the man, Jesus. But his light did constantly shine, 
and it continued to shine brighter and still brighter 
as in the resurrection, and it shines throughout the 
world to-day. 

Jesus was the Son of God, but we also are sons of 
God, and through the perception of this truth regard¬ 
ing ourselves, we too may manifest this sonship in 
the same fullness that he did. And thus his words 


36 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

will be fulfilled, for he said, The works that I do shall 
ye do also, and greater than these shall ye do.” We 
shall ultimately manifest this truth in its perfection 
and show forth our relationship to God for we are 
indeed children of the One, Infinite, Divine Father. 
We are made in His image and likeness.* 

** Even to them that believe on His name.” The 
word “ name ” had an especial significance to the He¬ 
brew mind, one that is generally unrecognized by us, 
as we interpret its meaning. In reading the early He¬ 
brew books of the Bible, we find that the people in 
those days were named for some characteristic peculiar 
to each one, something that distinguished them from 
others. So in this instance and wherever Jesus uses 
the phrase, in His name ” or “ on His name,” he 
doubtless intended to convey a deeper meaning than 
we generally attribute to it. Therefore, as I see it, 
to “ believe on His name ” is to believe in Him not 
only as God as we ordinarily use that word, but it is 
to believe in Him with a fuller comprehension of His 
characteristics than we have heretofore possessed. We 
are to believe in Him as the Essential of all Life, of 
all Power and of all Truth. We are to believe in Him 
as the Logos, the Infinite Mind, the Light that lights 
the entire world. 


‘ Genesis i. 26, 27. 


THE LIGHT THAT LIGHTETH EVERY MAN 37 


Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” 

‘‘ Which were born of God.” See how all these 
statements unite in one harmonious whole. “All 
things were made by Him, and without Him was not 
any thing made.” He is the Father, and these are 
born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the 
will of man, but of God. And you can see how this 
also, like all that goes before, includes every individual 
child of God. 

“And the Word (Logos) was made flesh, and dwelt 
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of 
the only begotten of the Father,) ‘ full of grace and 
truth.” 

“And the Word was made flesh.” Spirit made ma¬ 
teriality? Impossible/' you sd.y\ We can, however, 
without departing too much from the original Greek 
text, interpret this as meaning: The Word took on the 
semblance or garment of flesh in the sense that it ap¬ 
peared or was made manifest in a material form, and 
then see how it reads: “And the Word (Logos) was 
manifested in or through the flesh, (as the light shines 
through the darkness) and dwelt among us.” Here 

* In the Revised Version, Margin, this is rendered, “As of an 
only begotten from a father.” 


38 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

the writer is speaking of Jesus the Christ, and if we 
again quote the passage transposing some of the lines, 
the meaning will be identical, yet we may add to the 
beauty and strength of our interpretation. Thus: 
‘'And the Word or Logos was manifested in or through 
the flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; 
and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only be¬ 
gotten of the Father.” 

When I contemplate the character, the teaching, and 
the work of Jesus the Christ, I am not amazed that 
those early Christians thought that he was God. I 
can even understand how with their impression of 
him, they should conceive the idea that Jesus was in¬ 
deed God. But he never said he was, and John here 
does not say he was. He does say that the Word was 
made manifest in the flesh, and that manifestation 
dwelt among us, and “ we beheld his glory, the glory 
as of an only begotten.” The glory as of a son who 
receives from the Father all that the Father has to 
give. So did this Light or Infinite Mind, this Logos, 
shine through Jesus, and from the beginning to the 
end of his career this Light did shine, and mankind 
beheld its glory. 

Here we reach the end of the Logos story. It is 
wonderful in its significance, wonderful in its com¬ 
pleteness. It includes the whole universe and God 
Himself. And it is directed specifically to the one 


THE LIGHT THAT LIGHTETH EVERY MAN 39 


who hears, to the one who understands; to the one who, 
through perception of the truth regarding this Light, 
recognizes that he has received the ability to become a 
child of God. Yet not to become a child of God,—he 
is that already, but to manifest himself as such; in 
other words, to live such a life that by his living he 
will prove his sonship to God. And just in proportion 
to this recognition will be the strength of the light 
that shall shine from your being, radiating from you 
out into the world, helping, blessing, everywhere that 
it shines, even though you yourself may be uncon¬ 
scious of it and of its far-reaching effects. 

We remember that Jesus said, Let your light 
shine.'*' It is not that you are to place this light 
before the world, it is not that you are to boast of it, 
and declare its superiority,—nothing of the kind. It 
is simply that you without effort, but perceiving this 
innermost truth of your being, shall let it shine; not 
hindering it, not helping it, but letting it shine. That 
men may see your good works," Jesus continues, “ and 
glorify," no, not you, but “ your Father which is in 
heaven.” Let that light which is within yourself shine 
so that it may be recognized by the light which is 
within every other human being, for, as before stated, 
only light recognizes light. It is not recognized by 
darkness. You do not need to make it shine, it shines 


*Matt. V. i6. 


40 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


of itself; you do not need even to make an effort to¬ 
wards it, it comes of itself, for its nature is to shine. 

Here, you see, is an explanation of the words of 
Jesus, “ Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest.'* ^ For to the extent 
of the recognition of this light which is within you, 
and of the simple allowing of it to shine, without effort 
on your part, by just so much will the world be en¬ 
lightened and the trials and tribulations of mankind be 
lifted, and by just so much will peace and rest come to 
the weary and heavy laden. 


*Matt. xi. 28. 


IV 


THE INTRODUCTION OF JESUS BY JOHN 

THE BAPTIST 
(John I. 15-36) 

In the wonderful story that John the Baptist has 
told us, we find a philosophy that sustains completely 
the statement which Jesus later made, that God is our 
Father and that we are His children. And this blessed 
relationship is closer than any earthly relationship can 
possibly be. We also find that it is indeed true that 
the life of each one of us is of God's own life, that 
each being has within himself a spark of the Divine 
Life; and though we do not manifest it as Jesus mani¬ 
fested it, yet it is for us to do so, even as he did. 

We have now come in our study of this Gospel to 
the place where Jesus the Christ is distinctly and 
clearly referred to. In the closing declaration of the 
fourteenth verse, we read that he manifested in the 
flesh the glory, the great glory as of the only begotten 
of the Father. The narrative then goes on to say: 

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying. This 
was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is 
preferred before me: for he was before me.” 

41 


42 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Jesus was first; he was before John the Baptist, be¬ 
cause he was the first to manifest through the flesh, the 
absolute truth and life of God; that life which was 
and is the light of the world, lighting every man that 
cometh into the world. This is the same light that 
shines in you, and that enables you and me to recognize 
the light which shines through Jesus the Christ. This 
same light was in the world in the beginning, and is in 
the world now, if we but have the wisdom to open 
our eyes, and to see and understand, and to let it shine 
in and through ourselves. And so John continues to 
speak of Jesus: 

“And of his fullness have all we received, and grace 
for grace.” 

We all have received of the fullness of the truth 
which shone through Jesus. We may not know this 
or recognize it, we may even deny it, but the fact 
remains. As John said at the beginning of this Gos¬ 
pel, “All things were made by God; and in Him was 
life, and that life was the light of men.” John is right 
in his statement, and we are wrong in our standard of 
ourselves when we say that we cannot do as Jesus did 
and as Jesus himself told us we could do. God has 
not given opportunity to one, and withheld from an¬ 
other. The opportunity is ours, is for each one of us, 
if we will but recognize this truth, and have confidence 


INTRODUCTION OF JESUS BY JOHN 43 


not only in ourselves as we see ourselves, but con¬ 
fidence in the light of that truth that lighteth all beings 
without respect of persons. So many, by their dis¬ 
trust of themselves, refrain from doing the work they 
ought to do, from following the life they ought to lead, 
from manifesting themselves as they really are, when 
they should look within and see the light that is there, 
and kt^ that light shine. 

“And of his fullness have all we received, and grace 
for grace.” Or, as some translators understand it, 
“ grace upon grace, more and more of grace.” Let us 
look for a moment at this word “ grace.” The word 
itself means kindliness, good-will, favor, or benefac¬ 
tion. A kindness such as that which one bestows upon 
another who perhaps has not deserved it. One dic¬ 
tionary expresses its meaning thus: “Any excellence 
or spiritual gift or attainment; the divine influence 
acting within the heart.” With this definition of grace 
in mind, look at the life of Jesus, and see how full of 
grace he was. 

“ For the law was given by Moses, but grace and 
truth came by Jesus Christ.” 

Think of the contrast, the great contrast, between 
the law as taught by Moses, exacting, rigid, prohibi¬ 
tory; and the wonderful loving-kindness, full of grace 
and truth, in the teaching of Jesus. The old law which 


44 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


taught an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ” 
was about to disappear. It was the law of vengeance 
and retaliation, of returning evil for evil, but it was 
doomed, for now comes the law of truth, which is the 
law of kindness and of love, the law of the Golden 
Rule, as taught by Jesus. In the usual meaning of 
the word Jesus did not teach us ‘‘ laws,” for laws are 
man-made rules of action, but he taught us the prin¬ 
ciples of truth, which are God-made, and particularly 
did he teach the principle of absolute freedom which 
each person owes to every other person. 

The statements of truth as found in the Bible are 
remarkable indeed, when we realize that nineteen hun¬ 
dred years and more have passed since then and still 
we do not know this truth in its fullness. Aye, and 
nineteen hundred years more will come and go and 
we shall not even then have comprehended the fullness 
of this divine grace and truth. As far as the east is 
from the west we may search and shall not discover 
the boundaries of God's grace, for it is infinite. It 
will be as Paul says, the going on from glory to glory, 
through all eternity. Who can measure the love of 
God, who can fathom even in imagination its height 
or depth, its breadth? 

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only be¬ 
gotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he 


INTRODUCTION OF JESUS BY JOHN 45 


hath declared Him (hath depicted or proclaimed 
Him). 

‘‘No man hath seen God at any time.” This is an 
indisputable fact, if we understand the word “ man ” 
here to mean mortal man, the external man of earth, 
because the earthly man cannot perceive Him. There 
is not one thing of God, not one single characteristic 
or attribute of His or of His relationship to us, that 
the sense-man knows anything about. Our senses are 
absolutely silent with regard to all that pertains to 
. God. 

Men had had dim visions, as we have them now, 
but it remained for the Christ to declare or proclaim 
God, the Father, in His true relationship to us. 
Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord God is a 
god of wrath, of vengeance, of jealousy; characteristics 
which are noticeable for their absence in the teaching 
of Jesus, for he teaches of the loving Father only. 
God, “ the Father ” of the four Gospels, stands out in 
startling contrast to the God of the prophets, just as 
their laws stand in startling contrast to the grace and 
truth which Jesus made manifest to us. 

The expression, “ only begotten Son,” has given rise 
to many differences of opinion and puzzling questions. 
If Jesus is the only son, how, one may ask, can we all 
be sons of God? John is the only writer who uses 


46 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

this expression with reference to Jesus. In John Hi. 
16, 18 it is uncertain whether these are the words of 
Jesus himself or whether John is merely adding to 
Jesus’ words an explanation of his own. 

In Luke vii. 12, the only son of his mother ”; 
viii. 42, “ an only daughter ”; ix. 38, '' mine only 
child,” the Greek word translated ‘‘ only ” is the same 
word here under discussion and here rendered “ only 
begotten.” In these instances as well as others, the 
word is used to emphasize the fact that the only child 
is one especially beloved. 

In Hebrews xi. ^lY, we find the same expression, 

only begotten son,” referring to Isaac, yet in the 
Septuagint the Greek word corresponding to “ only,” 
(“ thine only son Isaac ”—Gen. xxii. 2, 12, 16) is not 
the same word used in Hebrews at all, but another, 
meaning simply beloved/' Just as the Greek word 
for beloved ” is often used in the sense of ‘‘ only,” 
the word translated ‘‘ only,” or “ only begotten,” some¬ 
times loses its literal force and has the meaning of 
“ unique,” “ chief,” “ beloved.” John himself, who 
refers to Jesus as the “ only begotten Son,” declares: 
“ Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is be¬ 
gotten of God'' (1 John v. 1, R. V.). So too, the ex¬ 
pression, “ first-born,” cannot always be taken literally. 
In Colossians i. 15, Jesus is spoken of as “ the first-born 
of every creature.” Whatever else the expression “ only 


INTRODUCTION OF JESUS BY JOHN 47 


begotten ” may mean, it emphasizes the remarkable 
prominence in which Jesus the Christ was held by John, 
the writer of this Gospel. The only begotten Son was 
supposed to contain within himself the qualities of the 
Father. 

In the present instance there is a difficulty in the 
text. According to the oldest manuscripts we read: 
“No one has ever seen God. The only begotten God, 
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared 
Him ; while the marginal reading of the Revised 
Version is, “ Many very ancient authorities read God 
only begotten.'' The term “ only begotten God ” 
means the Son. If this is the correct reading, it merely 
shows that John wishes to emphasize the unity of the 
Christ with the Father by calling him God instead of 
Son. (This was Chrysostom’s view.) 

John the Baptist was making a great stir in Judea 
at this time. He had appeared before the people en¬ 
tirely by himself, independent of those in authority. 
He appealed to no authority for right to preach and 
baptize but prepared the way for the Great Teacher, 
who was to baptize with the Holy Spirit. The au¬ 
thorities wishing to know who he was, sent their priests 
to him asking, “Who art thou?” John replied that 
he was not the Christ, neither Elijah, nor any of those 
prophets. He said: 


48 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

“ I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Make straight the way of the Lord.” 

The voiced* And that voice to-day still speaks 
in the hearts of human beings asking them to receive 
the words of the Great Master. 

‘'And they asked him, and said unto him. Why bap¬ 
tizes t thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias 
(Elijah—R. V.), neither that prophet? 

“ John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: 
but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 

“ He it is, who coming after me is preferred before 
me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” 

Great as was John the Baptist, in his personal hu¬ 
mility he felt he was not worthy to perform the most 
menial act of servitude. We, like John the Baptist, 
recognize the great difference between ourselves and 
Jesus. Yet there burns within each being, the light 
that is of the same light that lighteth the Christ, as 
Jesus himself declared. That light is within you, 
therefore let it be manifest even as Jesus did. 

“ These things were done in Bethabara beyond 
Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, 
and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away 
the sins of the world.” 

He now makes the personal introduction, “ Behold 
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the 


INTRODUCTION OF JESUS BY JOHN 49 


world.” The word “ lamb ” was used here metaphor¬ 
ically, perhaps with the idea of a sacrificial lamb, but 
more probably to set forth the characteristics of Jesus 
the Christ. What are the characteristics of the lamb ? 
Gentleness, harmlessness, innocence, grace, an entire 
lack of any antagonistic tendencies; no combativeness, 
no contention, complete non-resistance. This idea of 
the lamb is a symbol of the teaching in the Sermon on 
the Mount;—Resist not evil; love your enemies; love 
one another, even as I have loved you. “ The Lamb of 
God ”; without offense, so completely without antag¬ 
onism, so completely without a shadow of destructive¬ 
ness! This ‘‘Lamb” taketh away the error of the 
whole world, taketh away the sins and mistakes of all 
humanity, because, when the teaching of Jesus is fol¬ 
lowed in its entirety, all error without exception will 
disappear. 

First of all, Jesus would have murder destroyed, by 
putting every vestige of anger out of the heart, and 
this so entirely that one would not even recognize anger 
when it existed in another. And he would have no 
more adultery, for the thought of lust is to be put 
completely out of the mind, as completely as the hand 
would be cut off, or the eye plucked out and cast away. 
Thus would he destroy adultery, for the thought which 
would lead to it would be totally excluded from the 
mind and thus have no existence whatsoever. And 


50 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


again, he would have no resistance of evil, because he 
said, “Ye have heard that it hath been said. An eye 
for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto 
you. That ye resist not evil/^ ^ Much has been said 
even by Christians to show that in this question of the 
non-resistance of evil, Jesus was wrong. But it is not 
by resisting that evil disappears. Opposed by resist¬ 
ance, it continues to show itself and to thrive. By the 
avoidance of evil, as in the avoidance of the angry 
thought, or the lustful thought, it disappears. Then 
there is that wonderful declaration of his, the one 
which is the culmination of all his sayings in opposi¬ 
tion to the old law: “Love your enemies.” When 
men love their enemies, every error that has ever been 
committed in the whole world, will disappear as the 
mist on the mountainside disappears before the rising 
sun. These are but a few illustrations of the remark¬ 
able teaching of Jesus. Through adherence to this 
teaching,—literally and exactly—is reached the result 
proclaimed by John the Baptist: the disappearance of 
evil from the earth. And so it is that this Lamb 
“ taketh away the sin of the world.” John goes on to 
say: 

“ This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man 
which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 

“ And I knew him not: but that he should be made 


*Matt. V. 38, 39. 


INTRODUCTION OF JESUS BY JOHN 51 

manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with 
water. 

“ And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit 
descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon 
him. 

‘‘ Again the next day after John stood, and two of 
his disciples; 

And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith. 
Behold the Lamb of God! ” 

These were his last words as they were his first in 
this introduction of Jesus. From here Jesus takes up 
the work. 

Only on two other occasions does John the Baptist 
appear. We shall have occasion to look at these places 
and consider the last words which he said about Jesus. 
Tt is most wonderful that, before Jesus had opened his 
mouth to say a word, and so far as we know, without 
their having come together, John the Baptist in in¬ 
troducing him should characterize the Christ with such 
absolute faithfulness. 


V 


■ 


THE MIRACLE AT CANA 
(John 11. 1-11) 

“ And the third day there was a marriage in Cana 
of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 

“And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to 
the marriage. 

“ And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus 
saith unto him, They have no wine. 

“Jesus saith unto her. Woman, what have I to do 
with thee ? mine hour is not yet come. 

“ His mother saith unto the servants. Whatsoever 
he saith unto you, do it. 

“ And there were set there six waterpots of stone, 
after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, con¬ 
taining two or three firkins apiece. 

“ Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with 
water. And they filled them up to the brim. 

“ And he saith unto them. Draw out now, and bear 
unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 

“ When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water 
that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: 
(but the servants which drew the water knew;) the 
governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 

“ And saith unto him. Every man at the beginning 
doth set forth good wine; and when men have well 
drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept 
the good wine until now. 

“ This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of 
Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his dis¬ 
ciples believed on him.'^ 


52 


THE MIRACLE AT CANA 


53 


It is a sudden transformation from the philosophy 
of John with which he begins his Gospel, to this sim¬ 
ple introduction of Jesus to the people. Indeed, one 
of the remarkable things about this record of the first 
miracle of Jesus is its simplicity. There is not a su¬ 
perfluous word in the whole story, merely a plain, 
straightforward statement of the facts, and yet the 
narrative is most beautiful in its rendering. It was 
no ordinary event, yet nothing is said about the won¬ 
der of the water being turned.into wine. Its entire 
simplicity from beginning to end, and the calm atti¬ 
tude of Jesus in the transaction, is perfectly in keep¬ 
ing with all of his other actions and with his whole 
life. 

A wedding was in those days a great occasion, vary¬ 
ing in its importance according to the social standing 
of the people concerned. If the parties were possessed 
of wealth enough, the feasting and the jollity continued 
for two weeks or even more. Open house was kept 
with bounteous hospitality, all, whether bidden or not, 
being welcome to partake of the feast. Or the festivi¬ 
ties only extended over a period of seven days, and 
perhaps even less, where the parties were of more hum¬ 
ble circumstances in society. 

It is claimed that some of Jesus’ disciples, and more 
especially Nathanael, lived at Cana, and that the town 
was not far from Nazareth, six or seven miles per- 


54 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


haps. We understand also, that Jesus, up to this time, 
had been to his neighbors, friends, and acquaintances, 
merely an ordinary man, going in and out among them 
as one of themselves; but of respectable lineage, of the 
class designated in those days as pious. His parents 
were closely connected with the priesthood, which gave 
them distinction beyond that which property could give 
them, though it is evident that they were possessed of 
some property for we know that Mary and Joseph 
went to Bethlehem to be taxed. So they were invited 
to the marriage feast, and the disciples also. 

The marriage ceremony at this time, according to 
the customs of the Jews, partook very little of a re¬ 
ligious form; it was primarily a social event. At the 
most, there were but one or two religious formalities. 
The ceremony merely consisted of the bridegroom and 
his attendants going to the house of the bride, and 
after she had joined them, the procession proceeded 
to the house of the groom; then the feasting and fes¬ 
tivities took place. 

Jesus* mother was there. The wine had given out. 
This of itself was an indication of lack of wealth on 
the part of the parties concerned. Whether the guests 
were more numerous than had been expected, or the 
funds were not enough to provide the feast, we do 
not know, but Mary came to Jesus and said, “ They 
have no wine.** 


THE MIRACLE AT CANA 


55 


There is a great deal of mystery attending Mary, 
the mother of Jesus. We have the story of those 
wonderful events which occurred at his birth, enough 
to overwhelm an ordinary woman, yet it seems not to 
have affected her beyond the fact that, according to 
the record, she “ kept all these things, and pondered 
them in her heart.'' * The question has been asked 
over and over again,—Did she know the character of 
her son? Did she know who her son really was? 
The question remains unanswered. We remember the 
time when he went to the ceremony of confirmation in 
the Jewish church, at twelve years of age, as all Jewish 
boys did. He was old enough to take care of himself, 
but being missed from among their group his parents 
went back in search of him, and found him, this boy 
of twelve, in the midst of the Doctors of the Law, 
asking questions and being questioned, attracting their 
attention in a most wonderful way. And Mary, like 
any other mother, chided him for having left the fam¬ 
ily, and having put them to the inconvenience of com¬ 
ing back to look for him. It was a perfectly natural 
domestic affair, so far as her actions were concerned. 
There seemed to be nothing in her mind at that time 
beyond the fact that he was an ordinary boy, and yet in 
answer to her chiding he said, '‘Wist ye not that I 
must be about my Father's business? " * 

*Luke ii. 19. *IyUke ii. 49. 


56 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


This reply indicates that Jesus at twelve knew some¬ 
thing at least of his own character. But he goes home 
to the humble carpenter shop and serves his full time, 
living among his kinsfolk until he comes to the age of 
a teacher,—thirty years under the Jewish law, it is 
said. During all this time the curtain falls over the 
scene; of this period of his life we know nothing ex¬ 
cept by inference, absolutely nothing. But this very 
silence indicates that he lived his life in a quiet, un¬ 
assuming way which called forth no especial attention 
from the people by whom he was surrounded. But 
now he has been introduced as a leader of the people, 
yet he seems just as simple, just as modest. He does 
not assume anything because of the great things that 
John the Baptist said of him to his disciples. He goes 
with his friends and relatives to this wedding, which 
was probably a very unpretentious one. And now his 
mother comes again to our notice. She may not have 
understood him at the age of twelve years, but there 
must have been something in her thought of him at 
this time which makes the few simple words she utters 
seem of a deep significance. She asks no questions, 
she makes no suggestions, she says merely, as one of 
the guests might say to another guest, They have no 
wine.” Not a remarkable thing in the midst of the 
marriage feast. The wine had given out; that was 
all. Did she have some glimmering thought that per- 


THE MIRACLE AT CANA 


57 


haps Jesus might supply the deficiency in some way? 
Evidently so, because, however we may interpret his 
answer, we see in it the recognition on his part that 
here was something for him to do. He turned to her 
and said, according to this translation, “ Woman, what 
have I to do with thee ? mine hour is not yet come.^^ 

This answer has puzzled a great many people. His 
address to her, calling her “ woman instead of calling 
her “ mother,” is held by some as an indication of lack 
of respect. But we are told that among the Jews this 
title was considered an expression of respect whatever 
the station in life might be. There is another place 
where Jesus refers directly to his mother in the same 
way. John is the only one who records it. It was at 
the cross, when Jesus seeing his mother, and the dis¬ 
ciple whom he loved, standing by, “ He saith unto his 
mother. Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to 
the disciple. Behold thy mother I And from that hour 
that disciple took her unto his own home.” You see, 
the same title is used again on this most affecting occa¬ 
sion, and at this solemn time the term ‘‘ woman ” was 
most certainly not devoid of either respect or affec¬ 
tion. 

As to the question which he asks of her, I must 
frankly say that in all my studies of this subject, I 
have not yet found an explanation of the reason why 
the translation at this place takes the form it does, 


58 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

giving the strong impression, almost of rudeness in 
*^this reply of Jesus to his mother. Indeed it might, 
as it stands here, be taken almost as a rebuke,—What 
have I to do with thee ? Of course much of its mean¬ 

ing would depend upon the tone of voice with which 
it was uttered. Now in the literal Greek, standing 
word for word, this passage reads, “ What to me and 
to thee, is this, O woman ? That is very clear. 
What is this to you and to me that they have no wine ? 
And in that there certainly is no disrespect. ‘‘ What 
is it to you and me who are simply bidden as guests 
here?” That is all. “We are ordinary friends in¬ 
vited; why should you suggest to me that I do some¬ 
thing about this; you have told me that they have no 
wine, but what is that to you and me ? ” I prefer to 
believe that this is the correct meaning of these words 
of Jesus. For there was in his heart, I believe, a 
shrinking from what he knew was before him. This 
must have been about the time of his sojourn in the 
wilderness; it must have been after he had had some 
realization of what lay before him in the three years 
ahead. He had made some preparation for those com¬ 
ing years, for he had chosen some of his disciples. He 
stood at the threshold of events of tremendous im¬ 
portance, and he knew it. And this modest, unassum¬ 
ing, straightforward, simple man, what wonder is it if 
the human of him shrank somewhat from what was to 


THE MIRACLE AT CANA 


59 


come; recognizing what must follow any wonderful 
action on his part, what wonder if he did shrink from 
it and did say, Mine hour is not yet come ? 

We should remember that there is a difference be¬ 
tween the social conditions of to-day and those of that 
time and place. In these days and in our own country 
a son emancipates himself from the conditions of child¬ 
hood, but at that time and in a way more peculiar to 
the East, the son, the child, was always a child; and 
among the Jews in particular, the child was trained 
in obedience to his parents. So his mother according 
to the customs of that day had authority over this 
mature man of thirty years such as a mother does not 
have in this country and in these times. Whatever 
the thought of that mother with regard’ to that son, 
we see her here urging him forward, over the brink, 
as it were, making him face the conditions. And not¬ 
withstanding his modesty and his shrinking, she rec¬ 
ognizes his character. She knows beforehand what he 
will do, and so she says to the servants, '' Whatsoever 
he saith unto you, do it.’^ Could words express more 
faith than these? Do not these words show her ab¬ 
solute faith in Jesus and whatever he might do? 

And now is to be performed the first of his great 
works, the first of those acts which we have been ac¬ 
customed to call miracles. It is indeed a portentous 
time. Perhaps we have enlarged upon its importance 


60 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


somewhat, because of the way we have been taught to 
regard miracles. In my boyhood days the miracle was 
looked upon as something that violated the law of na¬ 
ture, and therefore, the law of God; or it was some¬ 
thing which set the law aside; something in opposition 
to law. It seems to me a little curious that those men 
who had this conception of the miracle did not rec¬ 
ognize the position into which they thrust the miracle- 
worker, Jesus. Because if it were a violation of the 
law, the man who performed the miracle was in effect 
a rebel against the lawgiver; it could not be otherwise. 
The law, according to the old way of looking at things, 
was the result of divine action; it was set up for the 
purpose of governing all men, and here was a man, as 
these people would say, who violated God’s law; thus 
you see, Jesus would be a rebel against God. 

But as we now understand things there was in this 
act of Jesus no violation of law whatsoever, but only 
action of some sort in accordance with a law not then 
known, and even now not very clearly comprehended. 
There was no violation of God’s law, no violation of 
the law of nature or of any law, but simply the recog¬ 
nition of a law, of which, up to that time, the world 
had not been aware. To-day even the humblest of us 
may talk with people many miles away, and think 
nothing of it. A hundred years ago if some of our 
scientists had been told that a man in Boston could 


THE MIRACLE AT CANA 


61 


talk with a man in New York, he would have been 
told he was crazy, and that such a thing was impos¬ 
sible and would be in violation of all the laws of na¬ 
ture, simply because they were ignorant of certain laws, 
which had not then been discovered. Since then the 
marvel of the radio has become so common that we 
have lost our wonder in regard to it. 

So what Jesus did was not a violation of law, but 
it was in accordance with a higher law which the peo¬ 
ple of that time did not understand, and which we 
ourselves understand but dimly. Therefore in accord¬ 
ance with his mother’s suggestion, Jesus said to the 
servants, “ Fill the waterpots with water.” 

This was merely one of the common duties of a 
well-ordered household. Here were the stone water- 
pots in their appropriate places, for use in the ordinary 
household affairs, and as the translation reads, ‘‘ after 
the manner of the purifying of the Jews.” The Jews 
were very particular and exacting with regard to their 
purifying. Indeed even the washing of the hands was 
with them a ceremony in itself. This washing was to 
be done at least before each meal and after each meal, 
sometimes even in the midst of the meal. This was 
what these waterpots were there for, to contain water 
for the washing of the hands, the purifying of the 
pots and kettles, and for use in the other regular house¬ 
hold duties. People have tried to find some occult 


62 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


meaning for the six waterpots, but there was nothing 
extraordinary about them or their presence there. 
Jesus never dealt with the abnormal and when any 
material thing was required in his work we notice that 
he always used the things close at hand. It was all 
very simple, nothing phenomenal in the means which 
Jesus used, and that to me is the greatness of it. 
There was no formality, no pretense, no ceremony or 
show on this occasion or at any other time when he 
performed his so-called miracles. 

“And they filled them up to the brim.” It was an 
uncommon thing for a guest to direct any of the af¬ 
fairs of the ceremony, but this man must have had 
something of authority or something impressive in his 
manner, for the servants did his bidding. When this 
was done, Jesus merely said in the simplest possible 
words, “ Draw out now, and bear unto the governor ‘ 
of the feast.” 

And it was wine that was poured forth. And what 
is wine? The juice of the grape, you answer. But 
do you know how wine is made? The changing of 
water into wine is one of the common occurrences in 
nature every day of the growing season, and yet we 
know no more regarding it than we do of this miracle. 
Every day this miracle of changing water into wine 

Their wedding festivities were managed by a director or 
governor, in whose hands all details were placed. 


THE MIRACLE AT CANA 


63 


goes on before our eyes. This growing wonder in 
every plant, whether the grape, or the apple, or the 
pear, or fruit of any kind, or even in the grass we 
tread beneath our feet without a thought, this miracle 
goes on, the changing of the water into the life-blood 
of the plant. If we look at it from this point of view, 
here is a continual miracle going on before our eyes, 
and we think nothing of it. We turn to this miracle 
with wonder and astonishment at what Jesus did, for¬ 
getting that other miracles of God are happening all 
the time. 

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water 
that was made wine ... he called the bride¬ 
groom, and saith unto him. Every man at the begin¬ 
ning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well 
drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the 
good wine until now.” The old, or usual order of 
events is reversed, the good wine flows now. There 
had been the wine of truth before, and it had been 
given to a thirsty world, and the guests had drunk of 
it, and the world had gone on in its course, until it had 
well-nigh run out, this Jewish race and Jewish nation, 
standing there in its decrepitude. But they were to 
drink again of the good wine such as the world had 
not drunk of before, and so may we too, if we will. 

To me, whatever else there may be in this story, it 
stands as a type of Jesus' work. He gives to this 


64 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


marriage feast the best of wine. He gives to the world 
the wine of absolute truth; he gives to us and to the 
world as freely as he gave that other wine to the 
guests at Cana, 


VI 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 

(Matt. XXL 12-17; Mark XL 15-19; Luke XIX. 

46-48; John 11. 13-22) 

There are in the Bible many apparent contradic¬ 
tions which may be trusted to disappear as our knowl¬ 
edge increases. The New Testament is not entirely 
free from these; nor is the teaching of Jesus, accord¬ 
ing to the usual interpretation. But all such seeming 
contradictions disappear in the light of the history and 
customs of that day, and in the light of the philosophy 
that underlies all that Jesus says. 

The story of the driving of the traders from the 
temple at Jerusalem, or The Cleansing of the Tem¬ 
ple,” as it is frequently called, is one which presents 
many difficulties. Perhaps the first to occur is the 
question of time. When did this happen? John in 
his account places it in the very earliest part of the 
ministry of Jesus, on his first recorded visit to Jeru¬ 
salem after his baptism. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 
on the contrary, put it at the close of his ministry, im¬ 
mediately after his public entry into Jerusalem, and 
only a few days before his arrest and crucifixion. 
This discrepancy has been recognized and discussed 

from early times, and various attempts at explanation 

65 


66 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


have been made. It has been thought that one of 
these must necessarily be incorrect, and authorities 
have differed as to which is right. It has also been 
claimed that there were two similar events, one at the 
beginning of Jesus' ministry, and the other at the end 
of it. Puzzling questions arise in connection with 
every effort to solve these difficulties, and no explana¬ 
tion yet made is without its objections. 

But the question concerning the time when this event 
occurred is not the most perplexing in connection with 
the subject. The incident as it stands is in direct con¬ 
tradiction to the fundamental principles of the teach¬ 
ing of Jesus. It thus assumes greater importance than 
it would were it merely a question of dates, and there¬ 
fore deserves careful examination. 

Jesus, throughout his teachings, distinctly taught 
that man was not to be angry, was not to allow the 
thought or feeling of anger within himself under any 
circumstances. His teaching even goes beyond this, 
and holds that man is to put anger so completely away 
from himself that he does not even recognize it in 
another. In fact, he is so to purify himself from 
anger that he does not even remember that his brother 
has anything against him.^ Now did he who taught 
such freedom from anger, hhmelf become so angry as 

*Matt. V. 21-26. (The Revised Version omits “without a 
cause.”) 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


67 


to overthrow the tables of the money-changers and to 
cast out of the temple all those who were buying and 
selling therein? 

It is said in extenuation of this, that the case was 
one of righteous indignation. ‘‘ Righteous indigna¬ 
tion is the pet expression of a great many people; 
but Jesus did not coin it nor endorse it. We do not 
find that he ever made any distinction between so-called 
“ righteous indignation and anger. He certainly 
never spoke of it otherwise than with disapprobation. 
If this was a case of indignation we cannot call it 
righteous if we are guided by his teaching on this and 
kindred subjects. 

One of the precepts of Jesus is, “ Judge not.*’ He 
said of himself, “ I judge no man.” Did he judge 
here? When he saw all this traffic going on in the 
temple, there must have been judgment and condemna¬ 
tion of some sort before there could be the act of 
casting the offenders out, for that was but the execu¬ 
tion of the judgment which had preceded it. 

Jesus also said, Resist not evil”; and from the 
beginning to the end of his career he followed this 
precept to the letter; notably at the end of his earthly 
ministry, when, if ever, there was a cause for resisting 
evil. When arrested, examined, and convicted by the 
Sanhedrin, and led off to execution, he made no re¬ 
sistance. Yet he said to Peter, who had struck off 


68 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


the ear of the high priest’s servant, “ Thinkest thou 
that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall 
presently give me more than twelve legions of 
angels ? ” ‘ He might have resisted with overwhelming 
force and with the foreknowledge of certain success, 
but he did not. 

The sum of all his ethical precepts which, if com¬ 
plied with, brings obedience to all the others, we re¬ 
member, was expressed by Jesus thus: ^‘As ye would 
that men should do to you, do ye also to them like¬ 
wise.” Was not this act a distinct violation not only 
of this precept, but of his entire teaching? How can 
such an act be justified under these words? On the 
contrary, this incident is often used to modify the 
meaning of the Golden Rule, and to excuse, if not to 
justify, the violation of its plain requirements. These 
are very serious contradictions. 

Not the least difficulty is found in the fact that such 
an action would be a violation of that great precept 
which rests on the principle of love. Jesus said at 
the outset of his career: Ye have heard that it hath 
been said. Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine 
enemy. But I say unto you. Love your enemies” 
These men were his enemies; according to his own 
teaching he should love them. Such an attack on 
them,—forcing them to leave their business suddenly 

‘ Matt. xxvi. 53. 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


69 


and without warning, scattering their property, and 
subjecting them to indignity and loss, if not to ruin, 
—was most certainly not the action of love. If, as the 
synoptics say, the event occurred just after his public 
entry into Jerusalem, it was only three or four days 
later when he said to his disciples: ‘‘A new command¬ 
ment I give unto you. That ye love one another; as 
I have loved you, that ye also love one another ; and 
then he specified the extent of his love for them when 
he said, '‘As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved 
you.” Such love as this was certainly not in accord 
with the action in the temple. Under compliance with 
these precepts the incident could not have occurred. 

Avoidance of all anger and of every other dis¬ 
cordant thought,—including indignation and condem¬ 
nation, non-resistance, which does not admit of self- 
defense, doing to others as one would be done by, such 
love as includes even enemies and is equal to the love 
of God for Jesus the Christ ,—these are among the 
most distinctive characteristics of the teaching of 
Jesus. We may even say that they lie at the very 
foundation of his teaching. All that he says or does 
rests on them as a basis; yet in this act of driving 
out the dealers in the temple each of these rules of 
conduct was violated. Herein are greater difficulties 
than any question as to the time when the incident 
occurred or the possibility of its repetition. Is his own 


70 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

action consistent with his teaching? Or did he on this 
one occasion give way to temptation and disobey his 
own teaching? The author of Hebrews says Jesus 
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without 
sin” ' Is this correct; or did he sin on this occasion? 
These are important questions which occur to every 
thinking person, and they deserve a definite and satis¬ 
factory answer. Without such an answer the student 
must be continually in doubt. An examination of his¬ 
torical facts and conditions will be of advantage in an 
attempt to find a solution for these questions. 

In the first place, the magnitude and importance of 
this feast of the passover, at which it is said the oc¬ 
currence took place, are things we are hardly familiar 
with and do not estimate at their true value. We do 
not appreciate the size Gi‘ the temple and its inclosed 
courts. The building itself, which included the holy 
of holies, was not large, but the area included in the 
courts which surrounded this inner structure was im¬ 
mense; and, unless some particular portion of it was 
named, it was all this that the Jews meant when they 
spoke of the temple. Latest investigations lead to es¬ 
timates which make the temple precincts, roughly 
speaking, a quadrangle of not less than a thousand 
feet on a side, with an area of about thirty-five acres. 
It is estimated that it had a capacity for over two hun- 

‘ Hebrews iv. 15 . 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


71 


dred thousand people, or twice as many as the Roman 
Colosseum. The length of the eastern wall was more 
than twice that of a side of the great Egyptian pyra¬ 
mid, and its total height on the precipitous side was 
only a few feet less than that of the same structure. 

There is no doubt that the number of visitors to 
the temple at one of the great feasts was vastly in 
excess of the common impression. Every Jew of' 
Judea and Galilee felt it his duty not only to come to 
the great annual feast himself, but to bring all his 
children and dependents. Jews all over the world also 
made it a point to come up to the feast as often as 
possible. And so we are told that, ordinarily, at this 
period in Jewish history, from two and a half to three 
million people came to Jerusalem during this feast, 
and of course visited the temple. 

Each visitor was compelled by custom and religious 
requirement to bring an offering, for none might ap¬ 
pear empty-handed. These offerings were on a scale 
commensurate with the wealth and position of those 
making them. Herod at one time, for a certain pur¬ 
pose, sacrificed three hundred oxen at a single feast. 
Josephus adds that this example was followed by 
others, so that it was impossible to number the sacri¬ 
fices. On one occasion the question of the importance 
of the Jewish people came up, and the officials wished 
to convey to the Roman emperor an idea of the mag- 


72 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

nitude of the Jewish feast. For this purpose the high 
priest kept an accurate account of the lambs sacrificed 
at that time, and reported two hundred and fifty-six 
thousand, five hundred. Just for the peace offering 
alone, it is said that Solomon on a special occasion 
offered twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and 
twenty thousand sheep. This was, as it were, making 
a huge butcher-shop of the temple. 

The conduct of these sacrifices necessitated an im¬ 
mense business in providing the oxen, sheep, and doves. 
Two million people required a corresponding supply. 
To provide two hundred thousand sheep and lambs, or 
even half that number, is in itself not a small affair. 
The full extent of the temple business can only be 
suggested, because specific figures cannot be had. The 
values involved must have been very great. Of course, 
not all these transactions were in the temple precincts, 
but probably that was the largest single place for the 
traffic. 

The character of these commercial transactions must 
have been, in some respects at least, in keeping with 
that of the ordinary Eastern market, where similar 
transactions are carried on. Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke unite in saying that Jesus characterized it as “a 
den of thieves.”' 

* The Greek word rendered “ thieves ” in Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke indicates not merely petty stealers, but men of violence 
banded together. 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


73 


This was no exaggeration. “ Corners ” in the mar¬ 
ket are not a modern affair. They had their ‘‘ cor¬ 
ners ” then as we have them in these days. A single 
instance in illustration will be enough to show what 
must often have occurred. The dove was the poor 
man’s offering. If he could not afford a calf, or a 
sheep, or an ox, it was allowable for him to offer a 
dove or a pair of doves. We are told that on one 
occasion a man made a corner in doves and ran the 
price up to what would be equivalent to about three 
dollars and eighty cents a pair. We can better under¬ 
stand what this means when we remember that the pay 
for an ordinary day’s labor at that time was about 
twelve and a half cents, and such an amount would 
be more than the laborer would receive for a month. 
But another man “ broke the market,” and doves were 
sold the same day for five cents a pair. If such ex¬ 
tortion was effected with doves, what was probably 
done with sheep and oxen? 

Under their law, every Jew who had arrived at the 
age of twenty years was expected once a year to pay 
a half-shekel into the temple treasury as a ransom for 
his soul; ‘ and that payment must be made in the sacred 
Jewish coinage. No other money could be used, be¬ 
cause any other would not have satisfied the strict re¬ 
quirements of the Mosaic law. In that country, 

^ Exodus XXX. 12-16. 


74 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

crossed as it was in various directions by the high¬ 
ways of commercial traffic, and with a population made 
up of diverse races, there were many kinds of money. 
From this condition of affairs, as well as because 
large sums were sent by Jews living elsewhere, the 
business of the money-changers became a necessity. 
They furnished the half-shekel for the temple wor¬ 
shippers in exchange for any coinage they might chance 
to bring. At the middle of the month preceding the 
great feast, every little hamlet in Judea and Galilee 
was visited by these officials, giving the people an op¬ 
portunity beforehand to change their money into the 
ancient money of Israel in readiness for the offering 
at the feast. At a prescribed time these men returned 
to Jerusalem, and then the exchange could be accom¬ 
plished only there. 

The value of the annual offering in half-shekels is 
conservatively estimated,—of course varying from 
year to year,—at about three hundred thousand dollars. 
The annual profits to the money-changers from their 
legal fees were at least forty-five thousand dollars a 
year. These figures show the magnitude of this part 
of the business of the money-changers. This was not 
a small matter in a community where twelve and a 
half to fifteen cents was the price of an ordinary day^s 
labor. In the proportion which this bears to the price 
of labor in these days, these profits would have 


THE CLEANSING OP THE TEMPLE 75 


amounted to several hundred thousand dollars, and the 

I 

gross receipts of the half-shekel tax would reach into 
the millions. 

The political conditions at that time also have an 
important bearing on our subject. The Roman au¬ 
thorities appointed the high priest, because he was not 
only the head of the church but the political head of 
the nation as well, and therefore it behooved them 
that they should have a man in this office who was 
responsible to them and within their control. Annas 
had obtained influence with the Romans and received 
the appointment. It is well known that this office and 
many others were literally bought and sold. 

In the earlier days the traffic in the things necessary 
for the sacrifices was carried on outside the city walls 
in the vicinity of the gate nearest the temple. But 
under the existing political conditions it is easy to 
see how the traffic found its way into the sacred city, 
and finally into the court of the Gentiles, which was 
the large court of the temple. Those from a distance 
could not easily drive their cattle and sheep all the 
way. It was more convenient for the purchasers to 
obtain what they wanted inside the city gates. For 
the same reasons they brought them up to the entrance 
of the temple itself. From this it was only a step to 
the large outer public court. For corrupt officials, ex¬ 
cuses for the infringement were plenty. Because the 


76 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


sheep, oxen, and doves were necessary for the temple 
service, a half-sacred character might be claimed for 
the traffic. The exchange of the money had a similar 
plea. This furnished an excuse for allowing it within 
the temple walls. These temple bazaars were the prop¬ 
erty and one of the principal sources of income of the 
family of the unscrupulous Annas, and were popularly 
known by his name. Finally men rented places for 
the carrying on of this traffic in this court, just as 
men rent stalls in the public markets of our cities to¬ 
day. A man paid for his place and it belonged to 
him. 

This understanding of the character and magnitude 
of the business, its legality in form at least, together 
with its connection with the highest officials, puts a 
different appearance upon the ejection when looked at 
from their point of view. It was a violation of their 
vested rights as they understood them. The Jew of 
that day was very much like the Jew of to-day, and in 
that particular not altogether different from the Amer¬ 
ican or European. He will give up some things, but 
he does not readily give up his property nor allow in¬ 
terference with his business. This action which we 
are considering was an attack on both, as well as a 
disturbance of the peace. 

For a better understanding of the biblical narrative 
and of the subject generally, it is well to read the dif- 


THE CLEANSING OP THE TEMPLE 


77 


ferent accounts in the four Gospels. That given by- 
John, which represents the incident as occurring at the 
earlier date, really stands by itself, distinct from the 
others. Matthew and Mark record that Jesus cast 
out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and 
overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the 
seats of them that sold doves; while John states that, 

when he had made a scourge of small cords, he 
drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and 
the oxen; and poured out the changers* money, and 
overthrew the tables.** John is the only one who men¬ 
tions the whip of cords, and according to the Revised 
Version, as well as the Greek, the inference is that he 
used this in casting out the animals (“ both the sheep 
and the oxen **) but not the people. 

Imagine for a moment the great commotion that 
must have taken place,—the consternation of the buy¬ 
ers and sellers, as well as the astonishment of the crowd 
of onlookers, the confusion caused by the thousands of 
cattle and sheep as they were thus unceremoniously 
driven out of the temple, the overturning of the tables 
and other furniture, and the scattering of the coin as 
it was poured out on the floor! 

And then what followed all this confusion? The 
Gospels make it a picture of peace. In the very next 
sentence Matthew says: The blind and the lame 
came to him in the temple; and he healed them.’* The 


78 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


contrast, not to say the incongruity, between the scene 
which this suggests, and the one which, according to 
the records, had but just occurred, is startling. Were 
there no other immediate consequences ? Where were 
the priests and other temple officials, including their 
hundreds of assistants and those whose business it 
must have been to keep order ? Where was the Roman 
garrison, always close at hand in the city, ready to 
interfere and quell riotous proceedings? Here stood 
this man, single-handed and alone, his habit unresist¬ 
ing and mild; and the blind and the lame came to him 
and he healed them! And children were there, too! 
A cyclone as it were, followed on the instant by per¬ 
fect peace! 

The next occurrence as recorded by Matthew is no 
less remarkable: *'And when the chief priests and 
scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the 
children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to 
the son of David, they were sore displeased.’* The 
context clearly indicates that wonderful things ” 
must refer to the healing of the blind and the lame, 
and not to the interference with the secular affairs of 
the temple. There is not one word about the driving 
out of the money-changers and traders. That inci¬ 
dent would seem to have been entirely forgotten. The 
cause of their displeasure appears to be that the chil¬ 
dren, because of the acts of healing, are crying out 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


79 


their words of praise. Not the slightest reference is 
made to the destruction of property which, according to 
the narrative, had just occurred; nor is there any al¬ 
lusion to the disorder and confusion which must have 
been caused by the sudden exit of the terrorized deal¬ 
ers and their animals. The record merely states that 
when the children cried, Hosanna to the son of 
David,” the chief priests and scribes in sore displeasure 
question Jesus saying, ‘‘ Hearest thou what these say? ” 
To this Jesus replies, “Yea; have ye never read, Out 
pf the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast per¬ 
fected praise ? ” 

Mark and Luke take up the story here where 
Matthew leaves it; “ He taught daily in the temple ”; 
and “ The scribes and chief priests heard, and sought 
how they might destroy him; ‘for they feared him, be¬ 
cause all the people were astonished at his doctrine.” 
To this Luke adds, “And could not find what they 
might do.” Yet here was abundant opportunity for 
charging him with disturbing the peace, raising a seri¬ 
ous commotion, and violating the customs, if not the 
laws, of the land. They long had wanted some ex¬ 
cuse by which they might bring before Pilate a charge 
against him of violating the civil law. Here was am¬ 
ple cause in the case of the money-changers, if no 
other. They were duly and legally authorized to 
transact the business, and had at the very least a semi- 


80 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


official character. Jesus had interfered with the trans¬ 
action of their official business, and had also deprived 
them of their property. John says he poured out their 
money. If a man should to-day go into the place of 
business of another and scatter his money, even if he 
did not appropriate any of it, such action would war¬ 
rant immediate legal proceedings. If this occurred at 
the beginning of his ministry, as John says, here was 
ample cause for prosecution. And yet all through 
Jesus’ career the political and religious leaders were 
seeking some excuse whereby they could bring the 
power of the law against him. We remember that 
even after his arrest, evidence against him could not 
be found. If this occurred at the end of his ministry, 
as the others say, what need for further search after 
some serious charge against him? Here was the very 
thing ready to their hand. Note also another point. 
Mark says the priests and scribes “ feared him, be¬ 
cause the people were astonished at his doctrine.” 
Luke says they sought to destroy him, ‘‘ for all the 
people were very attentive to hear him.” All this to¬ 
gether shows that the cause of their animosity was 
not these overt acts against the dealers (for these are 
not mentioned), but his teaching or doctrine, and the 
great interest of the people in him. 

The account says that for several days following, 
Jesus went out of the city each evening, returning in 


THE CLEANSING OP THE TEMPLE 


81 


the morning. Daily he went into the temple without 
the slightest concealment, and publicly taught there. 
He is met by the chief priests of the temple, and lead¬ 
ers of the people, and they ask him for his authority, 
and various other questions; but they do not mention 
the disturbance in the temple. No charge was made 
against him because of it; nor, so far as we have the 
record, was anything ever said in reference to it. 

Finally, false witnesses so-called were found, who 
testified that Jesus said he was able to destroy the 
temple of God, and to build it in three days. There 
is a peculiarity about this testimony. John's account 
shows that Jesus did use similar words, and yet 
Matthew and Mark' say the charge was false. How 
false? If Jesus did use these words, was not the 
testimony true? In the second chapter of John we 
read that Jesus said in answer to the question of the 
Jews at this time: 

‘‘ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
it up. 

“ Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this 
temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three 
days? 

But he spake of the temple of his body/* 

Thus we see that Jesus did indeed use words similar 
to those testified to by the witnesses, but with a mean- 
^ Matt. xxvi. 6o, 6i; Mark xiv. 57, 58. 


82 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


ing entirely different from that which they attached 
to them. They spoke of the temple in Jerusalem, which 
Herod had not yet completed. Jesus spoke of the 
temple of himself; the place for worship, neither in 
this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,” of which he 
told the Samaritan woman. They entirely misunder¬ 
stood him. 

How they reviled him as he hung on the cross! The 
passers-by taunted him, Thou that destroyest the 
temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself.” 
The chief priests and scribes mocked him, “ He saved 
others; himself he cannot save.” Other things also 
were “ cast in his teeth,” but not one word from the 
dealers of the temple, or from their friends! The 
crucifixion was on Friday. The dealers were driven 
out probably on the Monday before. Is it possible 
that any considerable number of fairly respectable and 
influential men, who had been so outraged in person 
and property, would have been ignorant of Jesus’ ar¬ 
rest and execution? And if they had known of it, 
would they not also have been there to witness his 
discomfiture and join with others in reviling him? 
They surely had not forgiven him. Would they have 
refrained from jeers and taunts? But there is no 
record of them. It is therefore fair to conclude that 
none were offered. 

But I think John gives us the key to the situation. 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


83 


As with the witnesses and others who heard Jesus at 
that time, so with us, the difficulty arises from our 
misunderstanding of what is meant by the temple/^ 
The difficulty will disappear if by the temple ” out 
of which the dealers were driven we understand, not 
the structure in Jerusalem, but the temple of himself. 

We remember that in all points he was tempted 
like as we are.’’ Jesus entered into the great place 
of Jewish worship, a place made sacred by their law 
and custom, and at that time believed by them to be 
the only place in the whole world where God could 
be worshipped as He should be. He saw this place 
desecrated by commercial transactions, some of them 
of the worst kind. This naturally might suggest to 
him his own possibilities, what he might do with the 
sacred power which he so well knew how to wield. 
We must not forget that, whatever the estimate in 
which we hold him, Jesus had a strictly human side. 
Might not this exploitation of the necessities of re¬ 
ligious observances suggest to him the wealth which 
he might obtain by means of the power which he pos¬ 
sessed, if he would use it for similar purposes? What 
would those wealthy people have given for the healing 
of their loved ones,—as a single instance, the centurion 
who was so wealthy that he could build a synagogue 
for the Jews,—^what would he not have given, had the 
payment of money become a question? If, as John 


84 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


narrates, this incident occurred early in his ministry, 
why may not this temptation have come to him at this 
time, just as, a little while before, there came to him 
in the wilderness, the temptation to satisfy his hunger, 
or to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple, 
or to make himself ruler of the world? If that series 
of temptations had come to him at one time, why not 
this one now? Is it not entirely possible that,—sug¬ 
gested by seeing other men making wealth out of the 
needs of sacred things,—there may have come to him 
the temptation to make gain out of his own sacred 
power? But he cast the idea out of his mind now just 
as he had done before. He literally drove the money¬ 
changers out of the temple of himself, the traffic 
thought out of his own mind, as with a whip of small 
cords. The temple ’’ was not the temple of Jeru¬ 
salem, not a temple made with hands, but, as John 
explains, it was the temple of God, which was within 
himself. 

This interpretation of the story becomes all the more 
reasonable when we remember that many of the ethical 
precepts of Jesus depend for their observance upon 
casting the erroneous or tempting thought out of the 
mind. That was clearly the method which he fol¬ 
lowed in the wilderness. In each instance there, he 
substituted the thought of truth for the thought of 
error, thus casting out the wrong thought. In the same 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


85 


way, on this occasion, he cast out of the temple of him¬ 
self the temptation to gain wealth by means of the 
power of God which he possessed. Thus, reading with 
this interpretation in mind, he did not literally drive 
the money-changers out of the temple building, any 
more than he was carried by the devil through the air 
from the wilderness to the pinnacle of the temple, or 
to the mountain top; but he drove out of himself the 
thoughts of covetousness and avarice, as well as the 
visions of wealth and ease. I doubt not it was done 
immediately, boldly, and thoroughly. With this in¬ 
terpretation the historical difficulties disappear as well 
as all inconsistencies with his teaching. 

But one will at once exclaim: “ Here is a story which 
has all the appearance of historical fact, and do you 
propose to dispose of it in this manner?*’ We have 
seen the incongruity and contradiction involved if we 
accept it literally. The difficulties in this explanation 
are less. Similarly in the story of the temptation in 
the wilderness, there is all the literalness of a narra¬ 
tive of an actual incident, if it is read with that thought 
in mind. The generally accepted interpretation of to- ‘ 
day is the same in character as the one here offered 
for the story of the cleansing of the temple. 

One story may be taken quite as literally as the 
other. Here is the crowd of dealers in the temple, and 
the bare statement that they were driven out. There 


86 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


we have a personal devil and his verbal suggestions, 
Jesus’ replies, the transportation from the wilderness 
to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and the 
second flight to the mountain. These were once taken 
as statements of literal fact, just as this story of the 
temple still is. The child who asked how the devil 
got Jesus from the wilderness to the pinnacle of the 
temple, and was told that the devil took him in his 
arms and flew through the air with him, is not now 
so very old. The famous French artist Tissot, whose 
paintings have been admired all over the world, does 
not hesitate to put this literal interpretation on his 
canvas. That was the old interpretation, still alive 
in many minds. There is just as much reason for be¬ 
lieving in the literalness of the story of the temptation 
in the wilderness, as there is for believing that Jesus 
really drove the money-changers out of the temple, 
and yet a large class of intelligent people have set the 
literalness of the former aside. If we apply the same 
rules to both these stories, and accept an interpreta¬ 
tion for the cleansing of the temple similar to that 
which is now accepted for the incident in the wilder¬ 
ness, then the difficulties and contradictions disappear. 
It will then make no difference whether it occurred near 
the beginning of Jesus’ ministry or at its close. It 
may well have been on both occasions. The most re¬ 
markable silence of his enemies is accounted for, not 


THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 


87 


only when they were searching for something to use 
as an accusation against him, during the years when 
he came and went amongst them, and at his trial, but 
also when they taunted him as he hung on the cross. 

Probably no other single thing in all the story of 
the Gospels has been so often quoted in excuse for 
violation of the plain meaning of the great social pre¬ 
cepts of Jesus; nor has anything else been used with 
such persistence in an attempt to pervert them from 
what would otherwise be their unquestioned interpre¬ 
tation. By this explanation and interpretation, this 
incident, instead of appearing as something at vari¬ 
ance with the teaching of Jesus, becomes a beautiful 
• illustration of it. His fundamental precepts are com¬ 
pletely vindicated, and all appearances of contradic¬ 
tion of his own cardinal rules of conduct wholly disap¬ 
pear. There is no longer any apparent need to modify 
his precepts or to discard any of them entirely, in order 
to accommodate them to his own action on this occa¬ 
sion, and thus save him from the charge of violating 
them. And the one possible stain on his character is 
found never to have existed. We now see him who 

A 

taught us to pray, ‘‘ Forgive us our debts as we have 
forgiven our debtors,” acting fully up to his own 
teaching and faithfully following his own precepts. 
With this interpretation, the greatest contradiction in 
the story of the Gospels disappears. 


VII 


THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS 
(John III. 1-13) 

** There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nico- 
demus, a ruler of the Jews.’^ 

This same man appears again in this Gospel on two 
other occasions, the first being when the Jews were 
seeking Jesus’ arrest. Nicodemus asked of them the 
question, “ Doth our law judge any man, before it 
hear him?” And then afterward, when Joseph of 
Arimathea had claimed the body after the crucifixion, 
Nicodemus appeared with one hundred pounds of 
spices for the burial. In addition to this, there is a 
large amount of tradition with regard to Nicodemus, 
and considerable speculation concerning him. It is 
quite generally admitted that Nicodemus was a very 
wealthy man; indeed his wealth is indicated by the 
amount that he contributed to the burial. That he 
was a man of prominence is certain; that he was a 
member of the Sanhedrin was probable; that he was 
of the Pharisees our text here states. His acts gen¬ 
erally indicate the same kind of character as shown in 
this interview with Jesus. He had evidently been a 

timid man and lacking in positiveness, but after the 

88 


THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS 89 

crucifixion he was cast out of the synagogue because 
of his religious convictions. 

The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto 
him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come 
from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou 
doest, except God be with him.” 

It is a question as to who is meant by we!* The 
assumption on the part of critics is, that Nicodemus, as 
a Pharisee, speaks for the Pharisees, and that they 
among themselves believed that Jesus was a teacher 
come from God. If it is true that many of the Phari¬ 
sees believed as Nicodemus did, we may conclude that 
they, like him, were either timid, at least in this mat¬ 
ter, or else they were less sincere than Nicodemus, in 
that they purposely acted contrary to their own con¬ 
victions. 

According to the story, Nicodemus introduced him¬ 
self after the Eastern fashion of offering polite com¬ 
pliments to Jesus. I myself have been sometimes in¬ 
clined to take his apparent interest in this interview 
as merely a matter of courtesy on his part, and yet 
on the other hand, when we look upon the things he 
did, recognizing tliat he was by nature a timid man, 
I feel that Nicodemus may have meant all that he said 
to Jesus, but did not have the moral courage to ex¬ 
press his belief publicly. “A teacher come from God,” 
he says, and his reason for this assertion,—‘‘ because 


90 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

no man can do these miracles except God be with 
him” Whether or not Nicodemus was the first to 
recognize these acts as indicative of the greatness of 
Jesus, this we do know, that vast multitudes since that 
time have believed in Jesus because they believed the 
story of the miracles that he did. 

I am convinced that the stories in the Gospels, and 
particularly in the Gospel of John, are much con¬ 
densed, that is, that the author in writing omitted what 
he considered as unnecessary portions of the story. 
This is one of the places where it seems to me that 
abridgment occurs, for the break in continuity between 
the words of Nicodemus and the answering words of 
Jesus appears to be great. The reply of Jesus seems not 
only extremely abrupt but lacks connection with the 
words of Nicodemus preceding it. At any rate, Nico¬ 
demus did no more than the ordinary conversationalist 
in that day among the Jews, in using complimentary 
terms by way of introduction. So far as our narra¬ 
tive goes, it seems as if Jesus utterly ignored the words 
of Nicodemus. We can but imagine that there must 
have been something that led up to the following state¬ 
ment made by Jesus, yet the essential thing is what 
is here set down as the reply to Nicodemus. 

“Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily, 
I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he can¬ 
not see the kingdom of God.” 


THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS 91 


Jesus begins with great earnestness, not to say, sol¬ 
emnity. The expression, Verily, verily, I say unto 
thee ” was an introduction frequently used by him, 
especially when he was about to declare something of 
the utmost importance. Except a man be born 
again/' This is rendered in the Revised Version, 
“ Except a man be born anew” or from above” 
What does this mean ? These words have been widely 
quoted, have been used in many and different ways, 
and have had various interpretations. The word that 
is here translated “ born " is the same word that oc¬ 
curs in the first chapter of this Gospel: “ But as many 
as received Him, to them gave He power to become 
the sons of God, even to them that believe on His 
name: which were horn, not of blood, nor of the will 
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 

Born of God ” it reads; and in the discussion of this 
first chapter it was shown how we all may trace our 
existence back to God, and how our relationship to 
Him is indeed closer than that of a child to its parent. 
Also this relationship is far above anything which we 
have conceived in our idea of the word “ Father." 
From Him alone we have our true birth. Lost to 
sight it may be, as we see ourselves and others, yet it 
is the absolute truth of our existence. Born of God, 
literally, aye more than literally ,—His children! 

You remember how Jesus said that the Son of 


92 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

man is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost/' ‘ The thing which is lost" is in existence at 
the time, only out of sight. And so in this case our 
true birthright has been, as it were, out of our sight, 
—unrecognized; we have had no conception of what 
we really are. Therefore, how fitting that to this man, 
Nicodemus,—bound up in materiality as he appeared 
to be, and not recognizing spiritual things, as the rec¬ 
ord seems to show,—how fitting that Jesus should ex¬ 
press to him the declaration that not only he, but each 
and every man must be born again, born anew, must 
enter into his true birthright. 

You must be born again. The word here translated 
again ” is of importance. Sometimes it means 
“ from the beginning ” or “ from the first." Luke so 
uses the word in the introduction to his Gospel: It 
seemed good to me also, having had perfect under¬ 
standing of all things from the very firstJ^ * From 
the first" in this passage is the rendering of the same 
Greek word that is translated “ again " in the one we 
are here considering. 

But more exactly the Greek word refers not to time 
but to place. It more often means, “ from above, 
from the top,® from a higher plane, from on high." 
John the Baptist said a short time afterward, '' He that 

^ Luke xix. lo. ’ Luke i. 3. 

•Matt, xxvii. 50, 51; Mark xv. 38; John xix. 23. 


THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS 93 


cometh from above is above all.” Here the word 
rendered “ from above ” is the same word elsewhere 
translated ‘‘ again.” John the Baptist explains this 
phrase by adding, “ He that cometh from heaven is 
above all.” ‘ 

Jesus, then, does not mean merely “born twice,” 
“ born once more as before,” but the rebirth is to be 
different in kind. One must be born from above or 
from the first, from the very beginning; one must be 
born anew,—the real spiritual birth. We often say, 
“ I made a mistake in my work, I must do it all over 
again.** We mean we must do it differently, free 
from the previous faults. We must, as it were, “ take 
a fresh start,” with the idea of improved procedure in 
the light of a new understanding. 

So “ except one be born anew he cannot see the 
kingdom of God.” We must go back to our true, 
spiritual selves, in order to see, or to realize the king¬ 
dom of God; we must look beyond this material self 
which seems to envelop us, and see ourselves as we 
are in reality; we must manifest ourselves in the truth. 
And strange as it may seem, this brings us to a plain 
psychological, or even a physiological fact. Our sense 
perceptions which have been so exclusively our guides, 
on which we place so much importance and in which 
we so implicitly believe, do not tell us one single thing 

'John iii. 31. 


94 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


with regard to things spiritual, with regard to our 
inner selves. They are absolutely silent regarding 
these. Materiality does not discern spirituality. Our 
material selves really disclose nothing of the spiritual 
life. It is the spiritual self only that discerns the 
Spirit. Therefore we must turn away from the ma¬ 
terial to the spiritual before we can enter into the rec¬ 
ognition of the kingdom of God. The true life of us, 
which is of God, is not perceived under any circum¬ 
stances by the external man, neither can it be. 

An illustration of this is found in the work of our 
scientists. Men trained to think along scientific lines 
have dissected the body, have studied it in every pos¬ 
sible way, hunting for life in the midst of materiality, 
but they have never found it. Consequently many 
have declared that there is no life but the life of the 
flesh, and that this life terminates with the death of 
the body. This is the natural outcome of knowledge 
acquired from a purely materialistic source. So, at the 
last analysis, science reverts to this same proposition, 
with which it must eventually agree: we must recog¬ 
nize our deathless, spiritual selves, our birth in the 
image of God, in order to enter into the kingdom of 
heaven, which is the kingdom of God. This kingdom 
is the kingdom of truth and of absolute right, which 
Jesus says is within you. Notice the wonderful har¬ 
mony of it all, and how seemingly disconnected things 


THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS 95 


are closely related. The kingdom of God is within 
us, and there must be the recognition of our origin, 
our source, in order that we may perceive this. The 
spiritual kingdom of God is discerned only by the 
spiritual self, and can be discerned in no other way. 
And so we find that Jesus’ words here, misunderstood 
and misinterpreted as they have been, stand for an ex¬ 
act scientific truth: “ Except ye be born again, ye can¬ 
not see the kingdom of God.” 

“ Nicodemus saith unto him. How can a man be 
born when he is old ? can he enter the second time into 
his mother’s womb, and be born ? ” 

This reply of Nicodemus is just like the response 
which materiality always gives to spiritual things. A 
flat denial by imputation, for to Nicodemus who sees 
only from the material or earthly side of things, to 
be born again is an utter impossibility. 

“ Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. 
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” 

It is said that the business of Nicodemus, out of 
which he probably gained a portion of his wealth, was 
the furnishing of the water for the purification cere¬ 
monies in the temple. Thus Jesus used his own occu¬ 
pation in explaining to him the truth. Water was the 


96 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


token in those days to denote purification. “ Except 
a man be born of water/’ except he be purified, “ he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” 

John the Baptist came preaching repentance of sins; 
and remember that ‘‘ repentance ” means a “ change 
of mind ”; a change of mind with regard to erroneous 
things and a putting away of all discordant thoughts, 
as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Seem- 
ingly Jesus is trying to state, though in different words, 
the same idea in his conversation with Nicodemus. 
He then expresses the same thought that we have been 
discussing, for he goes on to say: 

•‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” 

Materiality is materiality, and spirit is spirit, and 
between the two is an impassable gulf. The good tree 
bringeth forth good fruit; the evil tree bringeth forth 
evil fruit. We cannot transmute darkness into light; 
we cannot turn evil into good. Thus we find Jesus 
strikingly scientific in his statements when we really 
imderstand him. 

“ Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must be born 
again. 

‘‘ The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hear- 
est the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is 
bom of the Spirit.” 


THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS 97 

In the Greek the word that is used for spirit ” is 
the same word that is used for “ wind.’' Compare 
our breath of life.” Jesus is simply describing spirit 
by comparing it to the invisible, intangible but material 
wind. Compare Acts ii. 2 where the Holy Spirit 
comes like a "" mighty windJ^ According to the mar¬ 
ginal reading of the Revised Version, these two verses 
may be rendered as follows: ** Marvel not that I said 
unto thee. Ye must be born from above. The Spirit 
breatheth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice 
thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and 
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit.” Another translation reads: Do not wonder 
because I said to thee, you must be born from above. 
The Spirit breathes where it will. Thou hearest the 
sound of its voice, but dost not know whence it comes, 
or whither it goes. Thus is it with every one that 
hath been born of the Spirit.” 

But instead of abating, Nicodemus’ amazement in¬ 
creased, and he said unto Jesus, “ How can these things 
be ? ” It is no wonder that Nicodemus, being a man 
who saw only material things, exclaimed thus from 
the very depths of his soul. 

What a glorious truth this is that Jesus taught, and 
yet how simple and how plain! Just the casting off 
of the erroneous thought; that is all. It is merely 
throwing off the dark, external garment of the material 


98 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

self and letting the inner light of the spiritual self 
shine through in all its glory. 

** Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a 
master (teacher, R. V.) of Israel, and knowest not 
these things ? ” 

Nicodemus, according to the report here, has noth¬ 
ing more to say. He is silent because he has literally 
no understanding of what Jesus is saying. But Jesus 
continues: 

** Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we 
do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye re¬ 
ceive not our witness.'* 

Or, We speak what we know and testify to what 
we have seen, but you understand it not." ** The light 
shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehends 
it not" is a truth that applies to this situation. 

Instead of appealing to the reason of Nicodemus 
and trying to explain the truth to him, Jesus finally 
resorts to a plain assertion: We speak of things we 
do know." Jesus having tried, so far as he could, to 
awaken the spiritual perception of Nicodemus, merely 
asserts, “We know these things are so." How often 
this is the experience of the person who is trying to 
promulgate some new idea! At the last, without any 
explanation, one simply says, “ I know it is so." Jesus, 
talking to Nicodemus, was as the man bathed in the 


THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS 99 

glorious light of the noonday sun talking to a man 
who had never seen it. 

“ If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe 
not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly 
things ? 

And then he closes with this impressive declara¬ 
tion, which is absolutely true: 

‘‘And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he 
that came down from heaven, even the Son of man 
which is in heaven.'' 

No man enters into the recognition of spiritual things 
but he that is born of the Spirit. No man hath as¬ 
cended up into heaven but he that comes down from 
heaven, even the Son of man who is bom, as we have 
read, “ not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor 
of the will of man, but of God” Although we now 
perceive it but dimly, yet it is a fact that this descrip¬ 
tion applies to each of us, applies to every human be¬ 
ing. We need only recognize our own spiritual exist¬ 
ence, our own spiritual being, to perceive this truth, 
and when we do that in its fullness, all error will fall 
away, will disappear, and we shall know that we are 
from heaven. Indeed, we shall then be conscious that 
heaven is both here and now; that we are literally, in 
heaven. 


VIII 


SALVATION AND DAMNATION 
(John III. 14^31) 

The story of the interview with Nicodemus divides 
itself naturally into two parts. In the first part, which 
was considered in the last chapter, the first person is 
used. We have simply a dialogue between Jesus and 
Nicodemus. In the part of the account which we are 
now taking up, the nominative changes and is in the 
third person; and the story is more in the nature of a 
narrative; we pass from the consideration of what 
Jesus said, to something about Jesus. Although con¬ 
trary to the usual interpretation, I am inclined to think 
that John in writing down his version of the story 
may have,—perhaps without intending it as many an¬ 
other sometimes does,—wandered from the direct story 
into a dissertation in which he includes some of his 
own ideas. He has become, as it were, swallowed 
up in the immensity of his theme, and when he has 
concluded with the last words of Jesus as given in the 
thirteenth verse, “And no man hath ascended up to 
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the 
Son of man which is in heaven,'’ he is, so to speak, 

overcome by his emotion, by his recognition of the 
^ ‘ 100 


r 


101 


‘ SALVATION AND DAMNATION 

truth in this declaration, so tremendous in its signifi¬ 
cance. Consequently, continuing with his own medi¬ 
tations, his own thought, he says: 

“ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder¬ 
ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 

“ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have eternal life.” 

The comparison relating to the serpent has two pos¬ 
sible interpretations, each being distinct in meaning 
and each having its phase of truth. The first thought 
that will naturally come to one’s mind is the compari¬ 
son with the event in the wilderness when famine and 
disease had attacked the Jews. The brass serpent was 
lifted up that whosoever looked upon it might be 
healed, and the narrative states that all were healed. 
So taking that for his illustration he says, in the ren¬ 
dering of the Revised Version: '‘Even so must the 
Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth 
may in him have eternal life.” There is somewhat of 
a mystical idea connected with the expression, “ lifted 
up.” Jesus himself is reported to have said, “And 
V I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
unto me.’- ^ ^ 

The foregoing is one interpretation. The other is a 
purely spiritual one and is mor^s in accordance with 

, V > 

H ‘John xii. 32. 


102 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Jesus* philosophy. We have seen in our study of this 
Gospel how the Son, the spiritual being, exists in every 
one. That which was made was life in God. This 
life of God is in you and in me, for we are born, '' not 
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will 
of man, but of God.** This is the spiritual interpre¬ 
tation of "" the Son ”; this is the divine Son of the 
Divine Father. We are, metaphorically, to lift up ** 
that Son in ourselves, that is, we are to place our lives 
on a higher plane than we have been accustomed to 
do, in order that we may the more completely express 
the spiritual existence which God the Father has given 
us. And we should not lose sight of the fact that this 
spiritual existence is the reality of every human being; 
no one is left out of this inheritance, because all life 
is of God*s life. And if, through recognition of this 
wondrous truth regarding ourselves and all our fellow 
beings, we truly express the spiritual being which we 
indeed are, we shall come into a realization of eternal 
life that, at this present time, we can scarcely com¬ 
prehend. 

However much our fellow man may hide his light 
behind the veil of materiality, however much we may 
condemn him for the things he does, however far away 
we may put him from ourselves, whatever the wall we 
may build up between him and us, yet beyond all this, 
even though we see it not, is that spiritual life which 


SALVATION AND DAMNATION 


103 


is of God. We may condemn him, we may even hate 
him, yet that spark of the Infinite Life is within him, 
just as much as in ourselves. And we cannot come 
into a full and complete recognition of this life in our 
own spiritual selves until we also recognize the same 
life existing within all our fellow beings. Whatever 
may be the outward appearance, however much we 
may notice the sins or mistakes of another, yet there 
is that spiritual life existing within each individual. 
We are to lift that up in our own hearts. In doing 
this we shall realize that, instead of being separate, 
apart from us, as we imagined, they are one with us, 
as they are one with the Divine Father. And so, as 
we lift up the Son of man in ourselves and in others, 
will we come into a fuller, deeper understanding of 
that life which is God's life and which is eternal. The 
next declaration follows naturally in order: 

‘‘ For God so loved the world, that He gave His 
only begotten Son,' that whosoever believeth in him 
(the Son) should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

Another rendering of this passage is: For God so 
loved the world, that He gave His Son, the only be¬ 
gotten.” “ For God so loved the world.” Do we un¬ 
derstand what His love is? Indeed we do not, but 
we do know that it transcends all else, as the noonday 


‘ See Chapter IV, pages 45-47. 


104 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

sun transcends the feeblest star that twinkles in the 
sky at midnight. In our intercourse with our fellow 
beings, how often have we harbored other feelings 
than those of love, feelings that were indeed far re¬ 
moved from love, and have felt that we were justified 
in so doing! How often have thoughts of vengeance, 
condemnation, destruction, envy, jealousy, and a whole 
host of similar thoughts filled our minds to the ex¬ 
clusion of all else! In our judgment of others and in 
our self-righteousness, we may have felt that we have 
progressed beyond the thoughts of jealousy and of 
hate to those of mercy and of justice. But God's love 
is beyond all that. In His love there is no condemna¬ 
tion, for love does not condemn, neither merely mercy, 
for His love passes even mercy. Paul said that the 
whole world was under the condemnation of sin; that 
the whole world was a world of sinners, and from the 
external point of view, that was true. For many years 
the world had had its decalogue, which had been 
founded on, “ Thou shalt not.” The time had ar¬ 
rived, if ever it was to arrive, for vengeance, for jus¬ 
tice, for punishment, and condemnation. But, as John 
states here, God so loved the world that He sent His 
only begotten Son, that through his teaching the world 
might be saved from all such errors. 

What is the judgment of the world when a man has 
committed crimes innumerable and refused to reform ? 


SALVATION AND DAMNATION 105 

What do we do when a man has gone wrong, when he 
is beyond redemption as we see it ? What do we think 
is the right thing to do? At the least, we shut him 
up; at the most, we do what we can to terminate his 
life. We kill him, and call it justice. We think we 
are reforming the world by that course, although that 
course has been tried for many centuries and has failed, 
and it always will fail. It is love that reforms and it 
is love that is reforming the world. It is our recog¬ 
nition of God’s love for us that is making the world 
better. No man was ever reformed by hate; many a 
man has been loved into better things. What a con¬ 
trast between the way of the world, between the ideas 
of justice as practised by mankind these many cen¬ 
turies, and the course as set forth here that God the 
Father so loved the world that He gave His Son, that 
we might come into an understanding of the truth and 
of eternal life. To continue: 

‘‘ For God sent not His (the —R. V.) Son into the 
world to condemn * (or judge) the world; but that the 
world through him might be saved. 

“ He that believeth on him is not condemned (judged 
—R. V.): but he that believeth not is condemned 
(hath been judged—R. V.) already, because he hath 

* The root of the word here translated “ condemn,” appears 
also in the noun “condemnation.” These words are translated 
elsewhere in the New Testament as “damn” and “damnation.” 
The real meaning is merely “ judge ” and “ judgment.” The Re¬ 
vised Version so translates it. 


106 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of 
God.” 

According to the ideas of the world, condemnation 
was what the world deserved. But instead of sending 
His Son as a judge to condemn the world, God sent 
him to love it into righteousness. 

‘‘ He that believeth on him is not condemned.” To 
“ believe on him ” does not mean simply belief in Jesus, 
the man, but it does mean the recognition of the truth 
as expressed by the spiritual Christ. And whoever 
recognizes the truth, and believes in it, is not con¬ 
demned but is passed from death unto life eternal. 

“ He that believeth not is condemned already.” 
There is no need of condemnation from any other 
source, because the unbeliever is already condemned. 
He has of his own accord, by his very unbelief, him¬ 
self entered into condemnation. The condemnation 
takes place in his own heart, in that he does not, and has 
not, recognized the truth. When he does recognize 
the truth, he then comes into a clear understanding of 
evil or error, and when he has learned to judge cor¬ 
rectly he puts away the evil or error forever, and from 
choice he thereafter walks in the truth. When we do 
indeed realize the glory of ourselves as spiritual beings, 
we become ourselves the judges, yet not of ourselves 
but of the things of ourselves. As Jesus said later 


SALVATION AND DAMNATION 


107 


on, “ For the Father judgeth no man, but hath com¬ 
mitted all judgment ^ unto the Son; that all men should 
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.”" Is 
not this an inspiration for the lifting up of the Son, 
the spiritual being, within ourselves and others? The 
lifting up of that divine being which we are, or which 
is within each one of us, into the honor which we give 
to the Father Himself? 

“ He that believeth not is condemned already, be¬ 
cause he hath not believed in the name of the only be¬ 
gotten Son of God.” As before stated, the word 
“ name ” in those ancient days did not signify a mere 
designation, as the word has come to be used now; 
thus the phrase ‘‘ in the name of,” conveyed a deeper 
meaning than it does to us. A name as given to a 
person in those days usually represented some char¬ 
acteristic that was essential to or peculiar to that per¬ 
son. And so, to believe “ in the name of the only be¬ 
gotten Son of God,” is to believe in the essential char¬ 
acteristics of that only begotten Son; is to believe in 
that for which the Son stands. As Moses lifted up 
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man 
be lifted up; and so will the understanding of the 
truth be advanced. And when it is once fully under- 

* The word “ judgment ” is one we are familiar with under a 
different guise. We spell it “crisis,” the Greeks spelled it 
“krisis.” 

*John V. 22, 23. 


I 


108 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


stood that the spiritual being,—Son of man, Son of 
God,—is the true, the real being of man, then do I 
think we shall behold the glory of each “ Son of 
man ”; ‘‘ the glory as of an only begotten from a 
father.” 

“And this is the condemnation (judgment—R. V.), 
that light' is come into the world, and men loved dark¬ 
ness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” 

For answer to this let us go back to our philosophy 
in the first chapter: “ That which hath been made was 
life in Him; and the life was the light of men. And 
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness com¬ 
prehended it not,” or “ knew not of it.” The light 
has come into the world, and has been in the world 
all these years, and the world, because of its evil deeds, 
has recognized it not. 

“ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, 
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be 
reproved.” (Exposed or detected.) 

Meaning: He who does evil hates the light, neither 
walketh in the light, for fear his deeds shall be dis¬ 
covered. 

“ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that 
his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought 
in God.” 


* The original reads, " the light.” 


SALVATION AND DAMNATION 


109 


And these words remind us of those other words 
of Jesus spoken in the Sermon on the Mount: ** Let 
your light so shine before men, that they may see your 
good works, and glorify your Father which is in 
heaven/’ 

“ For God sent not His Son into the world to con¬ 
demn the world; but that the world through him might 
be saved.” It seems to me that the best analysis of 
salvation and condemnation that we can find anywhere 
is right here in these words. They that believe in the 
Son are not condemned, but they that believe not are 
already condemned. For this is the condemnation, 
that the light has come into the world, but men loved 
darkness rather than the light because their deeds were 
evil. “ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, 
that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are 
wrought in God.” Or in other words, he who does 
the right, he who lives the true life, walks in the light, 
that his deeds may be known or may be made mani¬ 
fest, that they have been wrought in God, that is, have 
been done according to God’s will. 

So it is with us all. God has left us in absolute 
freedom. The teachings of modern psychology sub¬ 
stantiate this idea: We are free. Thus it rests with each 
one of us to make of himself what he will. In our 
thinking is the seed and root of all our actions, and 
according to our thoughts ,—so are our actions. ‘‘As 


110 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Through the 
control of our thinking, we control our actions, and 
thus we become either condemned or saved. Saved 
not from destruction, not from '' eternal torment,” but 
saved from ignorance, from the evil wrought by our 
material selves. Because we are indeed the children 
of God, there must be in us that which is of His Spirit, 
which is of His Life, and it must at last shine out in 
the radiance of eternal light and understanding. 


IX 


THE FAREWELL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 
(John III. 22-36; IV. 1-3) 

In this story of the Gospels, John the Baptist ap¬ 
pears three times; first, distinctly as a forerunner 
prophesying the immediate coming of the Christ. This 
we have also in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Merging 
into this as a sequel to it, is the story of the Baptism, 
and the introduction of Jesus by John, expressed in 
the most remarkable language, full of meaning, full of 
prophecy, full of truth. And then, as John tells the 
story, we get a little glimpse of Jesus in the beginning 
of his work and now again we have the story of the 
Baptism. John the Baptist’s appearance here strikes 
a changed note entirely, distinct from either of the 
two other views which we have of him. His first ap¬ 
pearance was one of prophecy; his second represented 
a realization in the fulfillment of that prophecy. This 
last appearance proclaims to us the recognition that 
his work is done. And that is our subject of this 
chapter, this last personal glimpse which we get of 
John the Baptist. 

It is true we have certain mention of him later on. 

Both Matthew and Luke refer again to John at the 

111 


112 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


time of his imprisonment when he sent two of his 
disciples to make inquiry of Jesus. And these said 
unto him: ''Art thou he that should come, or do we 
look for another?''" We cannot help our wonder¬ 
ment here at John's sending this inquiry to Jesus, as 
though he were in doubt as to his own prophecy con¬ 
cerning Jesus, the Messiah, whom he had introduced 
with such glowing terms. Being in prison, he may 
have been discouraged and thought that Jesus should 
liberate him. The light of John had apparently gone 
out. Why should such visions as he had had at the 
very beginning, and such illumination in the midst of 
his career, have resulted in such darkness that he did 
not even know whether this man of whom he had 
heard was really the one he had introduced or not? 
Whence comes this lack of understanding on the part 
of one who seemingly understood so very much at 
first? It seems to me that the explanation lies in the 
character, or is suggested in the character of the gen¬ 
eral teaching of John the Baptist. He is dealing al¬ 
most wholly with external things. It is true he 
preaches righteousness, and repentance, and the aban¬ 
donment of error. But he baptized in water, which 
is the cleansing of the external man. It is the external 
that he dealt with principally, with certain glimpses 
of spiritual possibilities. You remember he gave us 
‘Matt. xi. 3 and context 2 - 19 ; lyuke vii. 18 - 35 . 


FAREWELL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 113 


a wonderful glimpse of the difference between himself 
and the man whose coming he prophesied, who, he said, 
was so far above him that he was not worthy to un¬ 
loose his shoe, was not worthy to perform the slight¬ 
est and most menial service for him: “ I indeed bap¬ 
tize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, 
the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to un¬ 
loose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and 
with fire.’’ ’ 

The methods of one are material, of the other spir¬ 
itual, even unto absolute perfection. It seems to me 
that here at least is a key to the situation, something 
that suggests the answer to the question: ‘‘Why did 
this brilliant light go out? ” It went out because such 
is the character of all external things. John was 
teaching of the external man, of the material man, 
and of material things, and from the third chapter of 
Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, we shall find 
that it is the destiny of materiality ultimately to dis¬ 
appear. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, “ That which is 
born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of 
the Spirit is spirit,” drawing distinctly and definitely 
the line between the two, materiality and spirituality. 

You remember when Jesus talked to the multitudes 
concerning John, just after he had answered the ques¬ 
tions of the disciples whom John had sent to him, he 

^ Luke iii. i6. 


114 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


said: What went ye out for to see ? A man clothed 
in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing 
are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to 
see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more 
than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, 
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which 
shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto 
you. Among them that are born of women there hath 
not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwith¬ 
standing he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is 
greater than he.”" Jesus thus defines, you see, the 
character of John’s preaching, the character of John’s 
service in opening the way, making the path for the 
coming of the great light of truth. But because his 
preaching was more on a material plane, it was in¬ 
evitable that John the Baptist should decline, that his 
light should grow dim. We now return to our sub¬ 
ject of this chapter: 

“After these things came Jesus and his disciples 
into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, 
and baptized. 

“ And John also was baptizing in Enon near to 
Salim, because there was much water there: and they 
came, and were baptized. 

“ For John was not yet cast into prison. 

'Matt. xi. 8-11. The reading of the Greek is, “he that is 
lesser** while the Revised Version renders it, “yet he that is 
but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” 


FABEWELL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 115 

“ Then there arose a question between some of 
John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying. 

“And they came unto John, and said unto him, 
Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom 
thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and 
all men come to him. 

“ John answered and said, A man can receive noth¬ 
ing, except it be given him from heaven.” 

John’s answer contains a wonderful truth. As I un¬ 
derstand it, heaven stands here as a type of the source 
of truth; and according to the popular thought of that 
time, heaven was the abode of God Himself. Thus 
man can receive nothing except it be given him from 
heaven, or from God, the Father. Some say tliat all 
truth comes from within ourselves, and this idea is 
confirmed by Jesus’ own words: “ Behold, the kingdom 
of God is within you.” ‘ 

It was Paul who said that “ the gift of God is 
eternal life.” * And is it not true that the gift of 
God is the spiritual being which is within you? I 
would go farther than that and say this spiritual being 
constitutes you, is you. And is it not from heaven and 
is it not eternal? Indeed it is! Turn back again to 
those words already quoted: “Which were born, not 
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will 
of man, but of God.'' What we are then, is from 
God; and that spiritual being that we recognize as our- 
* I^uke xvii. 21. * Romans vi. 23. 


116 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


selves, and which we also recognize as coming from 
God, is the first of all great gifts which we receive 
from Him. And whatever of good we have, whether 
it be of spiritual or earthly things, is from God. Thus 
all that we are, and all that we have, is of Him. Then 
John reverts to himself as he makes this statement: 

“Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am 
not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 

“ He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the 
friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth 
him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's 
voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled." 

The joy is to the bridegroom, but John was not the 
bridegroom; he was the friend who rejoiced in the 
bridegroom. Jesus himself uses the same metaphor 
later on. And then comes John's prophecy with re¬ 
gard to his own career. 

“ He must increase, but I must decrease." 

In this statement John predicts his own fate, recog¬ 
nizing the ultimate fulfillment of his mission, and his 
abdication as it were, upon the advent of the Christ. 
He realized more or less dimly, that the things that 
he taught were important, yet, that there was to be 
something greater than these which would fill, not the 
earth merely, but the universe. And so he eulogizes 
the Christ: 


FAREWELL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 117 

‘‘He that cometh from above is above all; he that 
is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth; he 
that cometh from heaven is above all/' 

And you recall Jesus' statement but recently dis¬ 
cussed, “ No man hath ascended up to heaven but he 
that came down from heaven, even the ^ Son of man 
which is in heaven." John thus recognized, you see, the 
distinction which existed between himself and his own 
career, and that of Jesus, the Christ. Jesus was from 
above, from heaven, as John said, and taught the 
things of the spirit; John, as he looked upon himself, 
was of the earth and taught the things of the earth. 
And as all earthly things must disappear, so John 
foresaw his own fate. 

“And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; 
and no man receiveth his testimony." 

In other words, Jesus testifies to the truths which 
he has recognized but no one accepts his testimony re¬ 
garding these things. No man hath seen God Him¬ 
self. The Christ was the supreme revelation to tell 
us about God, yet no one received his testimony. How 
far do we even now recognize and accept the spiritual 
teachings of Jesus? How far do we follow even those 
precepts relating to the things of the world? And 
how much less do we follow him in the deeper and 
higher ways of his spiritual teachings? Who among 


118 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


us can say that he loves his enemies? Who can say 
in response to that new commandment, that we have 
loved one another even as Jesus has loved us? How 
did he love his disciples ? How does he love us ? He 
told us,—“As the Father hath loved me, so have I 
loved you.” Do we love one another in that way? 
Have we even reached a conception of such love? 

“ He that hath received his testimony hath set to 
his seal that God is true.” 

The rendering of the Revised Version for this pas¬ 
sage reads: “He that hath received his witness hath 
set his seal to this, that God is true.” He that hath 
received the testimony of the Christ hath set his seal 
to the statement that God is true; he hath recognized 
that great declaration that God is good, and good 
alone; that He is not a God of wrath, nor merely of 
justice. When men really believe that God is good, 
the whole face of the earth will be changed. Take that 
humble statement of the poet Whittier, and apply it 
right here in your thoughts of the goodness of God: 
“ Nothing can be good in Him which evil is in me.” ‘ 
And yet, we have talked of His jealousy and envy, 
His wrath and vengeance, and have ascribed to Him 
all the evils that pertain to humanity, and have called 
them good in Him. 

* The Eternal Goodness. 


FAREWELL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 119 

But that is not the teaching of Jesus the Christ. 
The teaching of Jesus with regard to God is squarely 
contradictory to all that sort of thing. According to 
his teaching, God is good, without any mixture of evil 
whatsoever. And he that has received the testimony 
of Jesus, has had at least some recognition of this as 
a fact. When we study Jesus’ words and take them 
in the simple way in which they were uttered, with 
their clearness of form and expression, and without 
the addition of anything whatsoever; when, with the ’ 
faith of the little child, we accept them as they are, 
unclouded by any preconceived ideas; then shall we 
understand; and we shall understand with that spiritual 
perception which is greater than all imagination and 
which is above all argument or reasoning. We shall 
know the truth, with that illumination, that glorifica¬ 
tion, which shall convince us that Jesus did indeed 
speak the words of God, the Father. As John goes 
on to say: 

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words 
of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure.' 

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all 
things into his hand.” 

The Son whom God hath sent speaks the truth of 

* The Revised Version omits the words “ unto him ” at the 
close of this verse. They are in italics in the King James Ver¬ 
sion, signifying that they have been inserted. 


120 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

God. This he is able to do because he has received 
of the Spirit of truth to an unlimited degree. That 

is, the Source of all wisdom and understanding from 
which he may draw is without limitation, is indeed 
infinite. God, the Father, loves the Son, and He gives 
freely to every child of His. Not only of the Spirit 
has- He given, but all things without stint and without 
measure. This relates to each one of us, for each is 
a Son of God; each is a spiritual being. And unto 
each of us, if we will but exclude from our minds all 
erroneous thoughts, will come the spiritual understand¬ 
ing that shall perceive the truth. Then, with this glori¬ 
fied understanding, we can say as Jesus said, “All 
things that are mine are Thine ; recognizing this first 
to the extent that there is no “ mine ” in the sense of 
mere selfish or personal possession, then shall we see 
that the other half of the statement is also true, '‘And 
Thine are mine/^^ Thus will we realize that in the 
truth there is neither mine nor thine. But in the at¬ 
tempt to get what we call “ mine,” and to hold on to 

it, this fact is hidden from our vision. John con¬ 
cludes : 

“ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; 
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but 
the wrath of God abideth on him.” 


‘John xvii. lo. Revised Version. 


FAREWELL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 121 

The Greek reads: “ He that believeth on the Son 
has eternal life, but he who disobeys the Son shall not 
see life/' The passage may be interpreted to read thus: 
He that believeth in the Christ, or in the spiritual be¬ 
ing, Son of God, hath recognized eternal life, but he 
not so believing hath not entered into eternal life 
merely through lack of recognition of it. 

We are to notice here that it is John the Baptist 
who speaks of the wrath of God." One man, and 
one man alone of all men, taught the truth, and only 
the truth, and that man was Jesus the Christ. And 
he never uttered a word of this kind. We may search 
all his sayings and never find him alluding to the 
wrath of God. It is not in his teaching, either in 
word or spirit. But it is in the teaching of others. It 
was in the thought as you see of John the Baptist, but 
it was an erroneous thought. We know, and our 
knowledge is based on the soundest philosophy, that 
God is Infinite. When we say that He is Infinite, we 
mean that He is limitless, without limitation in any 
direction; that is the meaning of the word ‘‘ infinite." 
And if He is without limit, then there must be only 
Himself to be angry with, and the idea is inconceiv¬ 
able. 

So the mission of John the Baptist was a restricted 
one because he failed of complete understanding of the 
truth. But what is the course of Jesus? 


122 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


** When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees 
had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disci¬ 
ples than John, 

“ (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his dis¬ 
ciples,) 

“ He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.” 

The moment Jesus recognized the possibility of 
rivalry existing between himself and John, he went 
away. Jesus knew that no good comes out of the 
spirit of rivalry. We hear no more about John the 
Baptist, and except in this place we hear no more 
about baptism from Jesus. John the Baptist stands as 
a type of the course of action in each human mind. 
We begin as did he with obedience to the law, we 
begin with attention to the external things, with the 
thoughts of the affairs of this world and of bettering 
them; that is the beginning every time. 

But with the teaching of Jesus as our guide, we may 
advance to the recognition of the truly spiritual things; 
to the recognition of the truth as he taught it. That 
indeed, is the truth of God. Thus we may progress 
until our whole life is not only illuminated by His 
truth, but we may attain to the point where our life 
is itself an illumination. It is to the study of this 
truth that we are to address ourselves as we now go 
forward in the Book of John. 


X 


THE CONVERSATION WITH THE WOMAN 

AT THE WELL 

(John IV. 3-42) 

Jesus did not wait for a large audience; whether 
there was but one or a multitude to listen to his teach¬ 
ing seemed to make no difference with him regarding 
the importance or the character of the instruction 
which he offered. Twice, according to the records, 
he had simply an audience of one, and on each of 
these occasions he gives us some of his greatest truths. 
These two instances as well as his teaching on these 
occasions stand in curious contrast. One of his au¬ 
ditors, a man; the other, a woman. One, a scholar, 
learned in all the affairs of his nation; the other un¬ 
lettered, a rustic. One a teacher, a master, a leader; 
the other a humble person, without pretense, position, 
or influence. The conversation in each case was 
adapted to the intelligence of the listener. Presum¬ 
ing on the knowledge and understanding of the scholar, 
Jesus began by announcing a great spiritual truth: 
“ Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king¬ 
dom of God.” On the other occasion, recognizing the 
woman's ignorance, or mental limitations, perceiving 

that she pretended to little attainment, he began, not 

123 


124 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

with an announcement, but with a simple request, ask¬ 
ing for a drink of the water at the well. This con¬ 
trast may be noticed throughout the two interviews; 
the scholar not understanding the meaning of Jesus’ 
words; the humble peasant gleaning somewhat at least 
of an understanding of what Jesus said to her; the 
man of affairs, the leader, coming alone to Jesus by 
night; the woman, unlettered and unpretentious, after¬ 
wards bringing many from the city to listen to his 
teaching. Let us read the introduction to the story: 

“ He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. 

And he must needs go through Samaria. 

‘‘ Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is 
called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob 
gave to his son Joseph. 

Now Jacob’s well (spring—Greek) was there. 
Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat 
thus on the well; and it was about the sixth hour.” 

They had traveled all the morning no doubt and 
probably on foot, so Jesus was resting there by the 
well. This historic spot is one of the few places of 
importance referred to in the Gospels the identity of 
which is not disputed. They would show us Jacob’s 
well now, if we were to go there to-day, and I imagine 
this well to be the identical place where Jesus rested. 

“ There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water; 
Jesus saith unto her. Give me to drink.” 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 


125 


We see nothing in this of particular importance. 
Jesus was there presumably alone, his disciples having 
gone away to the city to buy food, and he asked this 
woman who had come there for water, to give him a 
drink. It was a quite ordinary request, but the woman 
was surprised. Under the existing national conditions 
such a request caused her much amazement, and she 
says: 

“ How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of 
me, which am a woman of Samaria.^ for the Jews 
have no dealings with the Samaritans.’* 

The Samaritans w*ere a people distinct from the 
Jews, though living in their midst. They were a 
mixed race, descendants of the remnant of Israel when 
the principal inhabitants were carried off, and of the 
Assyrians who were brought in to replace them.* The 
* Jews accused them of continuing the idol worship of 
their ancestors. The Samaritan was publicly cursed 
in their synagogues and could not be brought as a 
witness in the Jewish courts. The Jews hated and 
despised them. 

Thus the antagonism between the two nations at 
that time was quite marked. It is true that this an¬ 
tagonism was not so pronounced as it became at a 
later period, but it was enough so that it was a cause 

*2 Kings xvii. 6, 24. 


126 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


of wonder to this woman that Jesus should ask her 
for a drink. More than this, it is probable that Jesus 
by his garb indicated that he was a teacher, a Rabbi. 
And etiquette among the Jews required that a Rabbi 
should not speak to a woman under any circumstances. 
This added to her surprise, but above all things, that 
a Jew should speak to a Samaritan indicated a dif¬ 
ferent kind of Jew from any she had ever seen before. 

Jesus, as you see, commenced the conversation with 
a request that would have been commonplace under 
any other circumstances. He is thirsty; he asks for 
water. But at once he enters upon the discussion of 
other and greater things. He says to her: 

“If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is 
that saith to thee. Give me to drink; thou wouldest 
have asked of him, and he would have given thee liv¬ 
ing water.” 

Here is emphasized the keenness and the teaching 
ability of Jesus in deliberately comparing the water of 
the well,—something familiar to the woman^s experi¬ 
ence,—with the water of life. Jesus was constantly 
doing this, as, for example, in his remark to the fisher¬ 
men, “ Follow me and I will make you fishers of 
men.” Also when the crowds followed him for bread 
he gave them his great discourse on the bread of life. 
And again in this same chapter we are now consider- 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 127 

ing (verse 32) when the disciples urged him to eat, he 
told them of food in a spiritual sense. 

The water that he now speaks of to this woman at 
the well, is not the water that she shall give him out 
of her pitcher, but it is the living water that he shall 
give her,—the water of life. “If thou knewest the 
gift of God!’' The gift of God is life, and Jesus 
would give to her this water of life, would give it 
freely. Her mental condition is very clearly indi¬ 
cated by her response. She does not understand what 
Jesus is talking about; she has not gone beyond the 
material thought of the water of the well. 

“ The woman saith unto him. Sir, thou hast nothing 
to draw^with, and the well is deep; from whence then 
hast thou that living water ? ” 

The well was deep, and she saw that Jesus had 
nothing to draw the water with. Probably she un¬ 
derstood his expression of living water to mean the 
water of the spring that flowed naturally out of the 
earth, nothing more. Her mind had not risen to 
grasp the spiritual thought that he presented. In this 
question of hers she is as far from understanding the 
meaning of Jesus as Nicodemus had been in his ques¬ 
tioning. To each Jesus expressed an idea in language 
they did not understand. Yet this woman of Samaria, 
claiming a common ancestry with the Jews, apparently 


128 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

♦ 

noticed something of superiority in Jesus, and she felt 
there was something in his thought beyond that of 
merely receiving the water from the well, for she says: 

“Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave 
us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his chil¬ 
dren, and his cattle ? 

In other words: “Is he who produces this water 
that you speak of, greater than our great ancestor 
who built this well and gave it to us ? ” Like Nico- 
demus, she understands only from the material side 
of things and is talking solely from that viewpoint, 
whereas Jesus is distinctly referring to spiritual things 
and is trying to open her eyes to a perception of the 
truth, that she may have an understanding of the things 
that pertain to the spirit. Then, to this simple, un¬ 
sophisticated woman standing there by him, does he 
present one of the greatest thoughts of all his teach¬ 
ing: 

“ Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst 
again; 

“ But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall 
give him shall never thirst.” 

Whosoever partaketh of earthly things shall con¬ 
tinue to desire earthly things and to desire them more 
and more, but whosoever drinketh of the water of 
truth is forever satisfied. There is an overflowing sup- 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 


129 


ply of this living water of truth; it never diminishes 
but continues to increase. Whosoever partaketh of 
truth shall never want. But Jesus does not stop here, 
as he might have, for this promise is indeed a great 
one. In his next words he makes it even greater, even 
more wonderful. 

‘‘ The water that I shall give him shall be in him a 
well of water" springing up into everlasting life.” 

Jesus has completed his first declaration; he has 
characterized the two waters, one, the water of thirst 
which simply affords satisfaction for the moment, and 
then that satisfaction passes away; and the other, the 
water of truth which really quenches thirst and 
quenches it eternally. But more than that, this living 
water, in its marvelous character, becomes in the re¬ 
cipient “ a well of water springing up into everlasting 
life.” 

Such simple language, such a complete grasp of the 
truth! ‘‘If thou knewest the gift of God”! What 
is the great gift of God but eternal life? What is the 
gift of God to each being but life, existence; that life, 
that existence, which, expressed by the Divine Being 
Himself, is bestowed upon each individual whom He 
has created. 

All truth is from God. He is the one and only 
^ The Greek means, “ a spring of water or a fountain/’ 


130 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


source of truth. It is only from within that we per- 
■ ceive the truth, and that perception is the perception 
of the spiritual being, which is direct from God. Even 
that power to perceive is from Him and is given to 
us along with the gift of eternal life. We may well 
glory in the springing up from within of that truth 
which we have recognized, knowing that it has been 
given us by Him. And it is for us to see that our 
perception of the truth continually enlarges. The gifts 
that God has given to us are as the sands of the sea, 
they are numberless, they are unlimited, and we shall 
go on and on in the discovery of them forever. 

See how Jesus tries to give this truth to this un¬ 
recognizing woman, who, as her response shows, did 
not comprehend any more than did Nicodemus. She 
did not know what he was talking about. She had 
not even the recognition of her own spiritual being. 
The seed was sown on the rock and seemingly there 
was no soil for it to take root. Yet the sower sows 
in all places and under all circumstances. 

“ The woman saith unto him. Sir, give me this 
water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.” 

Jesus had told her, that had she asked of him, he 
would have given her living water. Now she says, 
** Give me this water.” Has she indeed received a 
glimpse of the truth? But we see in her concluding 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 


131 


words here that she has not advanced beyond the ma¬ 
terial thought that she need not come any more to 
this place to draw water. She was to all appearances 
blind to the light that shone all about her. May there 
not have come to Jesus at this point in the conversa¬ 
tion somewhat at least of disappointment.^ Was she 
totally ignorant? Had he cast his pearls before 
swine? But Jesus has undertaken to explain some¬ 
thing and so he comes down from the heights he had 
occupied to her plane, just where he started when he 
asked her for water to drink. He says to her: 

“ Go, call thy husband, and come hither.** 

Here are words that she can understand, and evi¬ 
dently there was something in his manner and tone of 
voice, as well as in his speech, that caused her to be 
thoughtful, and that made her have faith in him and 
realize at last that he was talking of spiritual truths. 
And so she answers him: 

“ I have no husband. Jesus said unto her. Thou 
hast well said, I have no husband: 

For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom 
thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou 
truly.** 

Ah, here at last, is something within her compre¬ 
hension ; here is to her a wonderful revelation; this is 
convincing where the words of spiritual truth had made 


132 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


no impression on her. Immediately this strange man 
rises in her estimation. Jesus’ knowledge of her past 
affected her more than anything else. As with this 
woman, so frequently it is from interest in less im¬ 
portant matters that the minds of many are aroused 
to perceive the greater truths. When Jesus first spoke 
to her she saw that he was not of the usual type of men 
in her country, nor was he like the other Jews that 
she had met or heard of. Now she recognizes some¬ 
thing superior in him, and she says unto him: 

“ Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.” 

His knowledge of her history, of certain facts in her 
life which no one could have told him, proved to her 
his greatness, and the best title she could give him was 
that of prophet. And straightway she resorted to one 
of the burning questions of the day between the Sa¬ 
maritans and the Jews. Here is this Jew before her, 
who knew all about her own life; he could decide this 
question. So she says to him, “ Our fathers wor¬ 
shipped in this mountain; ”—they were then at the 
foot of the great mountain of Samaria where the 
Samaritan temple probably was at that time. 

“ Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye 
say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to 
worship.” 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 


133 


See on what infinitesimal things thought is some¬ 
times divided. The place to worship was a much-de¬ 
bated question at that particular time. The Jews held 
that worship could not properly be conducted anywhere 
outside of the temple of Jerusalem. The Samaritans 
maintained that the only place of true worship was 
on the mountain. To both, this question was very im¬ 
portant because they saw underneath it all the one 
great necessity,—that God should be worshipped as 
He ought to be worshipped. And the woman, having 
seen that this stranger is much more than an ordinary 
man, seeks the decision of this question. 

Jesus has at last touched a responsive chord in her 
mind; he has roused her to thinking along the ordinary 
religious lines of that day. But how little real re¬ 
ligion was there as compared with the things that 
Jesus had been telling her! She had indicated that 
she thought him a prophet, and he continues in the line 
of prophecy in answer to her question. 

“ Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye 
shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, 
worship the Father.’* 

The Samaritan held to his place of worship even 
more tenaciously than the Jew to his. As for the Jew, 
his temple disappeared within a generation; but the 
mountain of the Samaritan still stands. It is true 


134 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

that there is yet a handful, something like a score or 
so of Samaritans who still worship on that mountain, 
amid the ruins of what was once their temple, the last 
survival of the old Samaritan religion. 

But now, according to the words of this man, this 
idea of the necessity of a particular spot for worship, 
which held so dominant a position in their religion, 
was to be swept away completely. What a shock this 
must have been to the woman! Here was a Jew who 
at once denied that a place of worship was an essential 
of religion. Jesus continues: 

“ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true 
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in 
truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” 

In spirit and in truth/* Where is this spirit, where 
this truth? Is it on this mountain that they were 
gazing upon? Is it in the temple at Jerusalem? Is it 
in any one spot more than another? The essential of 
each life is spirit. As Jesus said later, “ The kingdom 
of God is within you.” Thus the place for worship 
is within yourself, wherever you may happen to be. 
This is the one true place for worship, and there is 
no other. Whether you are in the most magnificent 
temple that was ever set apart for that purpose, as 
the temple at Jerusalem had been set apart, or whether 
in the woods, or fields, or in the busy streets of the 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 


135 


city; whether in the silence of the night, or the con¬ 
fusion of the crowd by day; wherever you may be, 
there is the place for worship,—in spirit and in truth. 
And this is the divine worship which God, the Father 
asks,—in the temple of the living God within your¬ 
self. 

What a wonderful answer to the woman’s question, 
embodying, as it does, an absolute truth, and in such 
simple language that any one can understand! But 
' even though the climax seems to have been already 
reached, Jesus in his next words goes further still and 
continues with greater significance and deeper truth: 

‘‘ God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must 
worship Him in spirit and in truth.” 

I prefer the rendering of the Revised Version: God 
is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in 
spirit and truth.” Therefore the true worship needs 
not the ornaments of architecture; it needs not the 
solemnly dedicated building, neither the aid of music, 
nor yet the hymn of praise; it needs not the words of 
the speaker nor anything but the recognition of your 
own divine self and thankfulness to the Giver of that 
self, to the Giver of all. The suggestiveness of this 
idea is so great that it is beyond words, almost even 
beyond thought. When you have entered the retired 
place of yourself and closed the door of that self 


136 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

against all outward things, then are you in the fittest 
place for worship, the temple not made with hands. 
Here alone is the place for true worship, worship that 
shall be indeed “ in spirit and in truth/’" Yet the 
woman does not understand Jesus’ meaning; her be¬ 
wilderment increases, and she responds: 

I know that Messiah cometh, which is called 
Christ; when he is come, he will tell us all things.” 

Then Jesus says what he did not reveal unto Nico- 
demus, what he did not announce directly to the Jews 
nor to the Gentiles: 

I that speak unto thee am he.” 

Thus ends this most impressive conversation. 

And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled 
that he talked with the* woman; yet no man said. What 
seekest thou ? or, Why talkest thou with her ? ” 

I have already referred to the reason for this. Jesus 
was a teacher as well as a Jew, and such were not sup¬ 
posed to talk with the Samaritans, except possibly in 
relation to the ordinary affairs of life. But in some 
way or another the woman was interested; she felt 
that she had been listening to a wonderful man, and 
she seems to have forgotten why she had come to the 

‘ Ask and Receive, Chapter II, “ How to Pray.” 


137 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 

well because she goes back to the city without even 
taking the vessel she had brought to carry the water 
in, for the story goes on to say: 

‘‘ The woman then left her waterpot, and went her 
way into the city, and saith to the men, 

“ Come, see a man, which told me all things that 
ever I did: is not this the Christ? 

Then they went out of the city, and came unto 
him.” 

We can imagine her earnestness as she tells her news 
to them. She recognized that her life was laid open 
before this man and, as her last declaration to Jesus 
shows, she had some sort of idea that this might be 
the Christ that was to come. 

In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying. 
Master, eat.” 

Hungry and thirsty he had come there to eat. 

‘‘ But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that 
ye know not of.” 

What food had he had to eat? Only the food that 
he offered to that woman and that he offers to us, 
spiritual food. This spiritual food he offers to the 
whole world, and the world should be ready to receive 
it at all times and thus grow in the perception and 
understanding of God’s truth. 


138 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath 
any man brought him aught to eat ? 

“ Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will 
of Him that sent me, and to finish (accomplish— 
R. V.) His work/’ 

While he had been giving to this woman in her 
ignorance, he, himself, had been partaking of the food 
of eternal life. He apparently did not wish them to 
give so much thought to merely material food and 
drink, and he took this opportunity to remind them 
that they should give more thought to the spiritual 
food which is life itself. 

We have here two examples of Jesus’ method of 
teaching that are strikingly parallel. Jesus was 
thirsty; he asked for water and seized the opportunity 
to speak of spiritual water: ‘‘Whosoever drinketh of 
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but 
the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well 
of water springing up into everlasting life.” In the 
second instance the disciples offered food. Jesus im¬ 
mediately tells them of spiritual food. 

This principle of teaching,—beginning with the 
known and familiar and from this advancing to the 
unknown is well recognized in pedagogy. Jesus con¬ 
stantly employed it. How homely are his illustrations! 
He speaks of farming and shepherds, of mending, and 
sweeping. He knows the value of object lessons. 


THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 


139 


Show me a penny,” was his answer on one occasion/ 
At once interest is aroused and attention gained. 
Again, he took a little child and set in the midst of 
them, to emphasize what he had to say. If we were 
to translate some of Jesus^ sayings into terms of our 
modern life we would realize how much use he made 
of every-day experiences. 

“ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed 
on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, 
He told me all that ever I did. 

“ So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they 
besought him that he would tarry with them; and he 
abode there two days.” 

/ 

Thus Jesus stayed in a Samaritan city with Samari¬ 
tans ; he never let an opportunity escape to scatter the 
seed wherever it might chance to take root. So this 
simple-minded woman has come into prominence. She 
brought people to listen to Jesus. She, at least, did 
what she could. 

“ And many more believed because of his own word; 

‘‘ And said unto the woman. Now we believe, not 
because of thy saying: for we have heard him our¬ 
selves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the 
Saviour of the world.” 


*Luke XX. 24. 


XI 


THE FATHER AND THE SON 
(John V. 1-31) 

There was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went to 
Jerusalem. At Bethesda he saw a multitude of people 
waiting to be healed by the moving of the water, for 
according to the faith of the people, whoever stepped 
first into the moving water was healed of whatever 
infirmity he had. And a man was there who had 
been an invalid for thirty-eight years, and Jesus said 
unto him, “ Wilt thou be made whole ? The man 
answered him that he had no one to put him into the 
water. ‘‘Jesus saith unto him. Rise, take up thy bed, 
and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, 
and took up his bed, and walked; and on the same day 
was the Sabbath.'' If there was any one requirement 
of the law about which the Jews were especially par¬ 
ticular, it was the observance of the Sabbath. 

“ The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured. 
It is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry 
thy bed. 

“ He answered them, He that made me whole, the 
same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 

“ Then asked they him, What man is that which 
said unto thee. Take up thy bed, and walk? 

140 


THE FATHER AND THE SON 


141 


** And he that was healed wist not who it was: for 
Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being 
in that place. 

“ Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and 
said unto him. Behold, thou art made whole: sin no 
more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. 

“ The man departed, and told the Jews that it was 
Jesus, which had made him whole. 

And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and 
sought to slay him, because he had done these things 
on the Sabbath day.” 


Then follows Jesus’ reply to the charges made 
against him regarding his violation of the Sabbath. 
It is more than a mere defense. He here sets forth 
in masterly fashion the wonderful relationship be¬ 
tween the Father and the Son. Answering his enemies 
he says: 

“ My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” 

Note particularly the personal character of this state¬ 
ment as contrasted with the others which follow. 
Jesus is here speaking of himself and the Father. This 
is his defense. “ My Father worketh hitherto,” or, 
as in the Revised Version, “ My Father worketh even 
until now,”—an intimation that the Father Himself 
works on the Sabbath day,—and because of that, “ I 
work also.” As Jesus said on another occasion when 


142 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

he healed the blind man, “ I must work the works of 
Him that sent me.’* He works the works of right¬ 
eousness, revealing thus the works of the Father on 
the Sabbath day or on any day. 

And here in this instance is an example of the un¬ 
expected reaction of the people to Jesus’ teaching, 
namely, the way in which his work was received by 
those who witnessed it, or who heard his words. To 
us it would seem that the healing of a man who for 
thirty-eight years had been an invalid, was of such 
importance, such accomplishment of good, as to out¬ 
weigh completely any thought of a violation of the 
sanctity of the Sabbath. But with the Jews at that 
time, the violation of the Sabbath was the one great 
offense, and thus we see that the work which Jesus 
did was entirely overshadowed by the fact that the 
Sabbath law had been violated. Even to carry one’s 
mattress on that day was considered by them as a vio¬ 
lation of the law. They paid no attention to the dec¬ 
laration of Jesus that the “ Father worketh hitherto.” 
From their point of view, the paramount thing was the 
violation of the Sabbath; they overlooked entirely the 
good that had been done. 

“ Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, 
because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said 
also that God was his Father, making himself equal 
with God.” 


THE FATHER AND THE SON 


143 


To make himself equal with God, as his words im¬ 
plied, was another offense which they could not for¬ 
give, and in view of this, the miracle of healing which 
he had done passed completely out of sight. A simi¬ 
lar thing was frequently noticeable even with the dis¬ 
ciples, when Jesus was talking to them; perhaps no¬ 
where else so marked as in the conversation at the 
close of the Last Supper. Jesus was telling them of 
great truths but they persisted in confining their minds 
to little things, or to matters of far less importance. 

Then Jesus begins his talk regarding the relation¬ 
ship of the Father and the Son, but here the distinctly 
personal note ends, for he speaks no more of himself 
exclusively, until at the close of his words relating to 
the Father and the Son, when he says, “ If / bear wit¬ 
ness of myself, my witnesses not true.” He here 
shows that these preceding verses ^ refer not to him¬ 
self alone as has been generally understood. That is, 
they do not refer specifically to Jesus to the exclusion 
of others, but they do refer to all mankind. 

“ Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, 
verily, I say unto you,^ The Son can do nothing of 
himself.” 


Hohn V, 19-29. 

’The introduction used several times in this chapter, and one 
which Jesus frequently uses, “Verily, verily, I say unto you” 
is intended to give emphasis to the words that are to follow and 
might read, “Truly, truly, I say unto you.” Or, as sometimes 
translated, “ Indeed, I truly say to you ”; “ indeed, I assure you.” 


144 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Our understanding of what follows depends on our 
interpretation of the expression: the Son,” If Jesus 
Were here speaking of himself only, he would naturally 
say, “ I can do nothing of myself,^’ as he does later in 
verse thirty, where, referring to himself alone, he uses 
the words, “ I can of mine own self do nothing.” But 
he says, “ I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of 
himself.” Whom does he mean by “ the Son ” ? Let 
us go back and review for a moment some of the things 
that are said in the first chapter of this Gospel of 
John. 

'' All things were made by Him (God—the Logos) ; 
and without Him was not anything made. That which 
hath been made was life in Him; and the life was the 
light of men.^ 

“ And the light shineth in the darkness; and the 
darkness comprehended' it not. 

“ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man 
that cometh into the world. 

“ As many as received Him, to them gave He power 
to become the sons of God.” 

This Light lighteth every man that is born, and to 
those who receive this Light with understanding, is 
given the power to manifest themselves as the sons of 
God, or in other words, to such is given the power to 
show that they are the sons of God. The first part 

* This is the rendering given in the Revised Version, Margin. 

’“Apprehended” or “overcame” in the Revised Version. 


THE FATHER AND THE SON 


145 


of the Book of John describes the spiritual creation, 
and man, the spiritual being, “ Son of God.” And 
this applies to every one. No matter what appearance 
we may present to the external world, the essential of 
us, of each human being, is the spiritual being, the Son 
of God. 

This spiritual being, in a way we can scarcely com¬ 
prehend, receives from God life, and the power to he 

\ 

the Son of God, or, to reveal himself as the Son of 
God. For these “ were born, not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, hut of God/' 
And so in the beginning of that prayer which Jesus 
gave us, he tells us to say, "" Our Father/' And if we 
say “ Our Father,” then may we also say that we are 
His children, the sons of God. And this is Jesus* 
testimony throughout the whole of his teaching: “ your 
Father,** ‘‘ my Father,** our Father,**—always rec¬ 
ognizing that men are the sons of God. Indeed this 
is one of the great essentials of his teaching, and if 
we would accept it in its fullest meaning, our under¬ 
standing of ourselves would be entirely different from 
what it is now. As he said to Nicodemus, ** That 
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is 
born of the Spirit is spirit.** That which is born of 
God is spirit, and it is the spiritual being in every man 
that is the Son." 

Does this then mean Jesus the Christ? Indeed it 


146 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


does, but it also means you and me, it means every 
son of the Father. And so the words that follow are 
merely an exposition of this idea in its fullness and 
magnitude. 

‘‘ The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he 
seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, 
these also doeth the Son likewise (in like manner— 
R. V.). 

The possibilities that lie in the assumption expressed 
in these words are beyond our farthest thought, and 
we shrink naturally from the sense of responsibility 
thus placed upon us. We, in our deep feeling of hu¬ 
mility, say, ‘‘ This does not mean me; it means some 
one else.’^ But stop a moment. Who are you ? And 
do you intentionally deny that you are a child of God ? 
If you are not God’s child, then Jesus does not mean 
you, but if you are His child he does mean you, and 
he thus takes you into the closest brotherhood with 
himself. 

One noticeable peculiarity in Jesus’ teaching is that 
he never in any place claims one thing for himself that 
he does not also grant to every other one of God’s 
children. Among his later words to us in this same 
Gospel we find these, “ Verily, verily, I say unto you. 
He that believeth on me,’ the works that I do shall he 
do also; and greater works than these shall he do ”; * 

*John xiv. 12. 


147 


THE FATHER AND THE SON 

and in that wonderful prayer in the seventeenth chap¬ 
ter of this Gospel, his words show us that the Father 
loves us even as the Father loves him/ If these words 
in the Bible are really true, then we are entitled to 
accept them to the fullest extent of their meaning, for 
we too, are sons. The difficulty is that we say that 
God is our Father without the remotest thought of 
what it really means to he His children. We call God, 
‘‘ Our Father ” and immediately forget that if we have 
a right to use that title we have the same right to call 
ourselves His children and to accept for ourselves all 
that that signifies. 

‘‘ For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him 
all things that Himself doeth.” 

The Father loves you and me, and He hath not 
hidden one thing of all His doings, not one thing in 
all creation is hidden from us. The Father showeth 
the Son,—not the external man of the earth but the 
spiritual Son of Himself,—all things that He Himself 
doeth. Indeed, the whole of God’s beautiful creation 
lies before us like an open book. We have but to use 
our spiritual comprehension, our spiritual perception, 
and recognize these truths. 

And He will show him greater works than these, 
that ye may marvel.” 


* John xvii. 23. 


148 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


No limitation whatever is put upon us or upon the 
power that is given to the Son. We may well stand 
in awe of ourselves and marvel exceedingly, as greater 
and still greater works are revealed unto us,—the chil¬ 
dren of God. 

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quick- 
eneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.’* 

The literal meaning of this according to the Greek 
is: ** For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and doth 
make them alive; even so the Son doth make alive 
whom he will.” We have progressed in these later 
years far beyond the ideas of fifty or a hundred years 
ago, but look at this now and think of the meaning 
these words are intended to convey to us. How many 
are there among us who really believe them as they 
stand ? Bven so the Son makes alive whom he will.'* 
Here, as always, Jesus’ statement is without limitation. 
It refers to Jesus, the Christ? Yes, and it refers as 
well to the Christ in you and in me. For it was the 
Christ in Jesus who did the great works, and if we are 
to do the works of the Father, they must be done by 
the Christ in ourselves, by the spiritual being of our¬ 
selves. But we must believe that there is but one 
power, and that that power is of God and is unlimited. 
And as each one of God’s children is of His substance, 
so that power worketh in and through them according 


. ' THE FATHER AND THE SON 149 

as they will or choose to use it. This philosophy 
stands behind every one of these statements of Jesus 
and is irrefutable. We go to the Father, the Infinite 
God, to learn what He is, and learning what He is, 
we learn what we ourselves are. 

Let us turn to the next verse. Tremendous state¬ 
ments of sublime truths Jesus is giving to these men 
who are seeking to kill him. He is showing them 
things hidden and unknown to them, just as they are 
unknown to so many of us. He has said, ‘‘ The Fa¬ 
ther loveth the Son,” now he says: 

‘‘For the Father judgeth no man, but hath com¬ 
mitted all judgment unto the Son.” 

A little closer rendering of the original Greek is: 
“ For not even the Father judgeth any one, but has 
given all judgment to the Son.” Men have said that 
this means that all judgment is committed unto Jesus, 
but Jesus himself says, “/ judge no man” These 
words here do not refer exclusively to him but they 
do refer to each individual. We are judges, not judges 
of ourselves nor of others, but of the things of our- 
selves. For we must not lose sight of the fact that it 
is not man who is to be judged, but the errors of man. 

In our judgment of the things of ourselves we should 
recognize the power of choice which we possess,— 
the power to choose between good and evil, between 


150 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

right and wrong. If we look back over our lives and 
see where we have changed our opinions, where we 
have seen things we had not seen before, and have 
recognized the character of what we were doing, we 
see how we then judged our own actions and so put 
away the wrong doing. This is the judgment where¬ 
with we are to judge. 

“ That all men should honor the Son, even as they 
honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son 
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him.** 

This means that you should honor the divine in 
yourself even as you honor God Himself. For the 
divine in yourself is of Him. Honoring not your 
spiritual self, whatever your external appearance may 
be, is failure to honor the Father from whom that 
spirit comes. For the divine being within you is of 
the substance of God. 

“ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth 
my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath 
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna¬ 
tion; but is passed from death unto life.** 

Who is it that hears the word of truth ? The sense- 
man knows nothing of God, for our senses can tell us 
not one thing, even the remotest regarding God. They 
hear not the spiritual word. Jesus said at one time to 
the people gathered about him, “ Why do ye not un- 


THE FATHER AND THE SON 


151 


derstand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear 
my word.” They were hearing his words with the 
ear only, as we hear words without understanding. 
But it is the spirit that hears the spiritual message, the 
spirit that discerns the spirit. It is the spirit of truth 
in every one that listens to the word of truth from 
whatever source it may come. 

Who is it that believes in God ? It certainly is not 
the external man, for that man knows nothing of Him. 
It is this spiritual being within us that recognizes God, 
and it is this spiritual being that “ hath everlasting 
life.” Such shall not come into condemnation (or 
judgment), but pass from death into life. Or, as 
given in the Revised Version, “ Hath eternal life, and 
cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death 
into life.” 

** Verily, verily, I say unto you. The hour is com¬ 
ing, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of 
the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” 

They that hear shall live.” There is no exception, 
even the seemingly dead who ‘‘ hear the voice of the 
Son of God,”—the voice of the inner spirit ,—they 
shall live. Here is taught a wonderful immortality. 

‘'For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath 
He given to the Son to have life in himself.” 


152 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


The rendering of the Revised Version is perhaps a 
little more emphatic: “As the Father hath life in Him¬ 
self, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in 
himself.” This brings us back, you see, to that state¬ 
ment in the first chapter of John, only in a different 
form,—“ That which hath been made was life in Him.” 
Then continuing, Jesus refers again to the question of 
judgment by the Son: 

“ And hath given him authority to execute judgment 
also, because he is the Son of man." 

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in 
the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 
(the voice of the Son of man, which is the spiritual 
being). 

“ And shall come forth; they that have done good, 
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done 
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation ” (or judg¬ 
ment). 

What a terror this word “ damnation ” has been to 
the world, and how we have shrunk from it! How 
many have shivered beneath the denunciations heaped 
upon them because of this language! And yet a sim¬ 
ple explanation would change it into a most glorious 
prophecy. This is an accurate statement of an in¬ 
disputable fact. In the first place it will be well to 
understand that the word “ judgment ” is nearer to 

Because he is a Son of man” is the rendering of the Re¬ 
vised Version, Margin. 


THE FATHER AND THE SON - 


153 


the meaning of the original Greek than the word 

damnation,” and is so translated in the Revised Ver¬ 
sion and elsewhere. 

As has already been shown, it is the Son who judges 
the things of himself, rejecting the evil. He rejects 
the error in himself, and is himself the judge of that 
which concerns himself. He thus “ comes forth unto 
the resurrection of life.” Jesus speaks of all men as 
sons, and it is not the Father who judges, but all men 
are judges of themselves; each judging the things of 
his own life, rejecting the evil and retaining the good, 
unto life eternal. The spirit lives eternally, for spirit 
is of God; and all life is of God and therefore cannot 
die. 

Then Jesus refers to himself alone in this most beau¬ 
tiful passage, which we can each apply to ourselves and 
strive for the attainment of all that it suggests: 

“ I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I 
judge: and my judgment is just (righteous—R. V.); 
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the 
Father which hath sent me.” 

In the remainder of the chapter Jesus becomes dis¬ 
tinctly personal, defending himself from the charges 
of the Jews and remonstrating with his hearers be¬ 
cause of their unbelief, and their lack of understanding 
of the truth. In his defense of himself he says: 


154 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ The works which the Father hath given me to 
finish, (accomplish—R. V.) the same works that I 
do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 

‘‘ And the Father Himself, which hath sent me, hath 
borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard His voice 
at any time, nor seen His shape." 

“And ye have not His word abiding in you: for 
whom He hath sent, him ye believe not.” 

They did not have God’s truth abiding in their 
hearts. These men,—^his persecutors,—did not be¬ 
lieve in him, neither did they recognize that this great 
claim which Jesus made, regarding the Father and the 
Son, was for each of them as it is for all men. 

There is nothing anywhere else that portrays more 
clearly the real character of the Son and the real re¬ 
lationship of the Son to the Father, than this talk of 
Jesus to the Jews. Yet it is all embodied in that one 
petition, “ Our Father” 


* Sometimes translated, “ form ” or “ appearance.” 


XII 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 

(John VI.) 

The incidents which led up to the conversation that 
we are to consider in this chapter are perfectly natural 
on account of the miracles Jesus had performed. A 
great multitude followed him because of these miracles 
and because of the things he said to them. Jesus went 
up into a mountain with his disciples, and the people 
came unto him there; a great company, as many as 
five thousand the record says. And when Jesus saw 
the numbers, a discussion arose as to how they should 
be fed, and Philip suggested that two hundred penny¬ 
worth of bread would not be sufficient for such a multi¬ 
tude. Andrew, one of the disciples, said: 

“ There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, 
and two small fishes: but what are they among so 
many ? ” 

Then Jesus had them to sit on the grass, and he 

took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he 
distributed to them that were set down.’' When they 
were filled, they gathered up the fragments and there 
were twelve baskets full. 


165 


156 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

The men who had seen the miracle that Jesus did, 
said, “ This is of a truth that prophet that should 
come into the world/' They recognized his wonderful 
power; they recognized his greatness; and they con¬ 
cluded that this man must be made their king. We 
must bear in mind that whenever anything of this sort 
took place, the idea of the Jews in relation to it was 
purely a materialistic one. According to their under¬ 
standing, their Messiah was to come and rule over 
Israel as a king, restoring to the nation the glories of 
David and of Solomon. 

When Jesus therefore perceived that they would 
make him king, he departed to a mountain by himself 
alone. We often refer to the temptation in the wilder¬ 
ness, and to the temptation in the Garden, but he 
really was under a continual temptation; he was sel¬ 
dom, if ever, free from it. Here were these people 
who had recognized somewhat of the truth, although 
they were apt to mix with it some of their own erro¬ 
neous views and thus get into frequent mistakes, as in 
this instance, when they deemed it possible to make 
of him an earthly sovereign. Such was their great 
misunderstanding of Jesus and of his work! As we 
find in another record of the event, he sent his dis¬ 
ciples away in a boat across the lake, that he himself 
might go alone up into a mountain to pray. We can 
conceive how the thought of being made king might 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 157 


have some possible weight with Jesus, because of the 
larger opportunity that thus would be given him for 
using his power to make the world better. He might 
well feel that such an opportunity was one not to be 
lightly rejected. And it was not necessary for Jesus 
to do anything himself to become king, he had only 
to let others do, and abide by their acts. 

The record goes on to say, that when the evening 
was come, his disciples went down to the sea, and en¬ 
tered a ship and went towards Capernaum. It was 
now dark and Jesus had not yet returned to them. 
The sea arose and a great wind blew. They had rowed 
about twenty-five or thirty furlongs when they saw 
Jesus coming towards them, walking on the sea, and 
they were afraid. They thought it was a spirit, and 
they cried out in their fear. But Jesus spoke, saying 
unto them: 

It is I; be not afraid.*' 

And in Matthew where we find an account of the 
same incident, the record states that “ straightway 
Jesus spake unto them, saying. Be of good cheer; (or, 
be of good courage) it is I; be not afraid.” * This ap¬ 
pears here as a purely personal remark, but to me it 
has a deeper significance, a larger meaning, than we 
ordinarily look for in the merely personal 1.” If we 

* Matt. xiv. 27. 


158 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


turn to the original Greek, we find it reads, “ I am; 
fear you not ”; or, ‘‘lam; be not afraid.” How many 
times even in a single day we ourselves use the ex¬ 
pressions, “ I ” or “ I am ” I We use them so often 
that we think of them as referring merely to our ma¬ 
terial selves, but it is the spiritual self that these words 
stand for and it is the spiritual self of us that we 
really mean whenever we utter them whether or not 
we realize it. Whenever we speak these words we 
thus unconsciously express our relation to the Infinite 
Father.^ And so Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, be 
of good courage; I am, fear not.” 

“ Then they willingly received him into the ship: 
and immediately the ship was at the land whither they 
went.” 

The following day the people on the other side of 

the sea came across seeking Jesus. 

* 

“ And when they had found him, they said unto 
him. Rabbi, when earnest thou hither ? ” 

They were following this man who fed them in such 
a miraculous way, yet they asked him the most trivial 
of questions, “ When earnest thou hither ? ” This in¬ 
troduces a conversation which is of great value. Jesus 
did not answer their question; it was too unimportant. 

* See Chapter XVI, pages 238-241. 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 159 


He recognizes that these people are purely material¬ 
istic. Their hunger had been satisfied, and they fol¬ 
lowed him across the sea. His reply to them seems 
almost like a reprimand; 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you. Ye seek me, not 
because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of 
the loaves, and were filled. 

“Labor (work—R. V.) not for the meat' which 
perisheth,' but for that meat which endureth unto ever¬ 
lasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; 
for him hath God the Father sealed."'' 

It was the meat that perisheth that they were seek¬ 
ing; it was mainly because of external appearances that 
they followed Jesus. He tells them not to work for 
that which perisheth but for that which perisheth not. 
There is a vast difference between that which comes 
to nothing, and that which endures forever. One sat¬ 
isfies for a moment and the other satisfies forever, and 
yet he calls both “ meat,” meaning material food and 
spiritual food. Is not this another instance of Jesus" 
method? I believe he intentionally here repeats the 
word “ meat"" merely to emphasize the contrast. Thus 
we are to work for that which endures unto eternal 
life, which the Son of man, the spiritual being, shall 

“ Food ” would be a more accurate rendering of the Greek 
than “ meat.” The word ” perisheth ” as used here means ” that 
which is not permanent,” or, in the last analysis, “ that which is 
destroyed.” ” Sealed ” means, “ to seal, to confirm; to set the 
seal of approval on.” 


160 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

give unto us; “ for him hath God the Father set the 
seal of His approval on.” 

“ Then said they unto him, What shall 'we do, that 
we might (may—R. V.) work the works of God? 

“ Jesus answered and said unto them. This is the 
work of God, that ye believe on him whom He hath 
sent.” 

In other words, you are to believe in this Son of 
man whom God hath created or hath sent into the 
world. Since the beginning of the Christian era man¬ 
kind has laid great stress on belief” and here is a 

place where people particularly emphasize it. Yet it 

« 

seems to me that they have not quite reached the point 
of meaning which Jesus intended. 

We act in accordance with what we believe. As our 
thinking is, so are our actions, and belief is a phase 
of thinking. If we really believe in the Son,—the 
spiritual being, child of God,—as defined in the previ¬ 
ous chapter, if we really believe in the essential of our¬ 
selves, and know that we are spirit, how different then 
will our actions be! We shall then believe that our 
spiritual being does not depend on earthly things, does 
not depend in anywise on materiality. When we really 
believe these things how much we shall leave alone 
that now we do; how much will pass out of our 
thoughts that we now think! Furthermore, how much 
will come into our thoughts, into our recognition, that 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 161 

now we do not dream of! To believe the truth means 
to do the truth. We say we believe; indeed we have 
much to say about belief, but we say it with our lips 
and we then go and do otherwise. This is proof that 
our statement of belief was not sincere even though 
we thought it so when we voiced it. 

That ye believe on him whom God hath sent.” 
Whom hath the Father sent? The Son! Just as we 
had it in the previous chapter: ‘‘ For the Father judg- 
eth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the 
Son; that all men should honor the Son, even as they 
honor the Father.” And you remember from our 
study of those words of John,—“ That which hath 
been made was life in Him,”—that your life is of the 
life of God, and that you are, just as Jesus said, a son, 
a child, and so have the right to say Our Father.” 
Then look for a moment at your own belief, at your 
own actions. Not at what you say you believe, but 
at what you really believe. Turn to the within of 
yourself and contemplate for an instant what you 
would do if you actually believed in the reality of this 
relationship, and in all that it means. True belief is 
of the first importance because action follows belief. 

But the people were loth to understand Jesus, just 
as were Nicodemus and the woman at the well. They 
asked for a sign from himself before they would be¬ 
lieve. For they said unto him: 


162 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


** What sign showest thou then, that we may see, 
and believe thee ? what dost thou work ? 

** Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is 
written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat/’ 

This was a sign, one they could believe in, so What 
do you do ? ” is the question that they pressed upon 
Jesus. And the answer that Jesus gives is in line with 
what he had already said with regard to that food 
which endureth unto eternal life. 

** Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not 
that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you 
the true bread from heaven.” 

The rendering of the Revised Version reads a bit 
differently: ‘‘It was not Moses that gave you the 
bread out of heaven; but my Father giveth you the 
true bread out of heaven.” The manna was food of 
the earth, the materialistic bread; it was not food from 
heaven. And so Jesus continues: 

“ For the bread of God is he (that —R. V.) which 
cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the 
world.” 

The spiritual bread, or the true food, is that which 
descends from heaven, giving life unto the world. And 
like the woman at the well, when told of the living 
water, so these people said to him: 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 163 


“ Lord, evermore give us this bread/' 

Some glimmering of the truth has entered their 
minds. And accordingly they ask for this bread of 
heaven that gives life unto the world. So Jesus an¬ 
swered them and said: 

“ I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall 
never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never 
thirst." 

I believe that Jesus in these words is not referring 
to himself personally; he does not mean that at all. 
But what he does refer to is the Eternal Presence, and 
that spiritual, divine being dwelling within himself, 
which is the Christ, the Son of the Infinite God. Jesus 
in all that he says seldom refers to himself personally. 
When he says, “ I am the bread of life," he utters the 
words in the same impersonal way as when he said, 
‘‘ Be of good cheer; I am, fear not." 

There is neither hunger nor thirst in the spirit. We 
may refer here to the beatitude: “Blessed are they 
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for 
they shall be filled." Also to the reply of Jesus to 
his disciples at the well, when they came wondering 
why he did not eat, and if any man had given him to 
eat,—“ I have meat to eat that ye know not of." So 
here, in this place, Jesus speaks of that food that the 
world knows not of. Pure spirit is the bread of life. 


164 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


As all that exists is of God's life; so the true or spir¬ 
itual bread is of His own life. Jesus continues: 

“ But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, 
and believe not." 

Here we turn again to the materialistic side of things. 
They had seen him as we see each other, and they had 
eaten of the miraculously prepared food, and yet they 
did not understand. That is, they had seen his works 
without understanding, and therefore they did not be¬ 
lieve. And so they came with all these trivial ques¬ 
tions. 

“ All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; 
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 

‘‘For I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
own will, but the will of Him that sent me. 

“ And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, 
that of all which He hath given me I should lose noth¬ 
ing, but should raise it up again at the last day." 

“ Of all that the Father gives me, I shall lose noth¬ 
ing." What has the Father given him? In Jesus’ 
own words in the eleventh chapter of Matthew we 
read: “All things are delivered unto me of my Fa¬ 
ther." **All things,** and there is no indication of any 
limitation whatsoever. And so Jesus says here in 
words that are a little closer to the Greek: “ What¬ 
ever the Father gives me will come to me." “And 


THE BREAD OP LIFE FROM HEAVEN 165 


this is the will of Him who sent me, that I may lose 
nothing of all that He has given me, but may raise 
it up at the last day.” 

The Father has given him all that is; He has given 
him all that is of the spirit, for this in particular re¬ 
lates to the spiritual, and nothing of that can be lost. 
As we have learned from John’s own words in this 
Gospel, all that has been made was of the very life of 
the Father. And if anything of that can be lost, then 
God Himself can be destroyed. If one least atom of 
life disappears, then God is no longer infinite. He is 
no longer God. But, this, is the Father's will, that 
of all that He has given me I shall lose nothing, but 

i 

shall raise it up again at the last day. And then Jesus 
continues, with an even deeper, clearer meaning: 

And this is the will of Him that sent me, that 
every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, 
may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at 
the last day.” 

Which interpreted means: This is the will of God, 
that every one who recognizes and believes in the Son, 
the spiritual being, shall come into the consciousness 
of eternal life; and at the last day, when all error or 
evil is overcome, he shall be raised up, that is, he shall 
stand forth as he is,—God’s true child, made in His 
image and likeness and manifesting himself a§ such, 


166 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

We may call this a wonderful promise but it is far 
more than that. It is the statement of an absolute 
principle, of a scientific truth. Oh, the terror of that 
idea of the 'Mast day”! And why? What is the 
last day? It but refers to the death of materiality, 
to the end of all error. Each day that we see more 
and more clearly and believe more distinctly and defi¬ 
nitely in the truth, we are ourselves putting away error 
or all untruth, putting it out of our lives and bidding 
it depart forever. . And finally there will come a last 
day when we shall put away the last error, and when 
even the recognition or thought of evil shall disappear 
entirely. It, in all of its forms, will be abolished com¬ 
pletely,—no more suffering, no more sorrow, all diffi¬ 
culties, all troubles vanished forever. What a glory 
to contemplate, that such a time is coming, when we 
shall stand forth as we are, sons, children of God; 
when we shall see one another as we really are,—true 
spiritual beings! 

" The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, 
I am the bread which came down from heaven. 

" And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, 
whose father and mother we know? how is it then 
that he saith, I came down from heaven ? ” 

They evidently saw only the surface of things and 
did not at all understand what he was talking about. 
But Jesus continues: 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 167 

“No man can come to me, except the Father which 
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the 
last day.” 

No one can come imless the Father draws him. 
Whom does the Father draw to Himself but the spir¬ 
itual being that you are? Him the Father draws unto 
Himself. We have jumped to the conclusion in the 
past that there were some that the Father did not draw 
to Himself. But what does it say? 

“ It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be 
taught of God.”" 

“ They shall all be taught of God.” Taught the 
truth! And as we know and recognize the truth, so 
are we drawn by the truth. As we know and recognize 
the good, we are drawn by the good. Who is it that 
is satisfied with his present condition ? Every man that 
ever lived is seeking something which shall be an im¬ 
provement on what he now has. He may be mistaken, 
perhaps, but the impulse behind it all is the desire for 
something better. The Father is drawing him towards 
higher and better things. And so it is with every man. 
As you reach your ideal, other and more desirable 
things appear just ahead, and still more glorious ones 
in the distance, and so we press on continually, the 
Father always drawing towards the good until that 

^The rendering of the Revised Version. 


168 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

wondrous last day when He has drawn you away from 
all error and into the glory of the truth and the truth 
alone. And so the verse continues: 

“ Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath 
learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” 

Every one that hears and learns of God comes to 
the Christ or believes in him. 

‘‘ Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he 
which is of God, he hath seen the Father.” 

Spirit alone sees spirit. The material man never sees 
spiritual things. These eyes of ours, these senses of 
ours, do not under any circumstances reveal to us one 
least little thing of God. That man never sees God; 
but the spiritual man, he that is of God, he hath seen 
the Father. 

'' Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth 
(on me)' hath everlasting life. 

‘‘ I am that bread of life.” 

Here again, you see, it is not the personal Jesus that 
is meant, but the spiritual man, the Christ. 

*The Revised Version omits the words “on me,” rendering the 
passage thus: “ He that believeth hath eternal life. I am the 
bread of life.” 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 169 

“ Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and 
are dead. 

“ This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, 
that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 

I am the living bread which came down from 
heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live- 
forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, 
which I will give for the life of the world.’* 

‘^And the bread that I will give is my flesh.” How 
seemingly gross this sounds! Yet it stands here as the 
reason for the dogma of one of our great churches. 
But what is flesh ? What we see and speak of as flesh 
is but the shadow of the reality, that which stands for 
the substance, but is not the real thing. Flesh as we 
see and understand it is but materiality. Yet back of 
this, hidden from our erroneous vision, is the reality 
for which the flesh stands. This reality is spirit and 
that spirit is of the one substance with God, the 
Father. And we are nourished by that substance, that 
life. That life is in the plant and it is that which 
nourishes the plant. That life is in everything that 
exists, whether we recognize it or not, and frequently 
we do not recognize it because it is so often hidden by 
the sense perceptions. There is the One First Cause, 
and out of this is evolved all that is. Therefore, in 
reality, all that is, is spirit. And unless we partake of 
this spiritual food, there is no true life in us, as Jesus 
goes on to say: 


170 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

I 

The Jews therefore strove among themselves, say¬ 
ing, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 

“ Then Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I say 
unto you. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (The 
Greek reads, “ you have not life in yourselves.*’) 

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, 
hath eternal life. 

‘‘ For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink 
indeed.” 

This passage in the original Greek reads, ** For my 
flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” 

“ He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, 
dwelleth (abideth—R. V.) in me, and I in him. 

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by 
the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live 
by me.” 

The Revised Version for this verse reads: “As the 
living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; 
so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me.” 
Jesus in all this is referring to the spiritual life, and to 
the spiritual being, who is continually nourished and 
sustained by that spiritual life which is of God. 
Throughout all that Jesus says here there runs the 
thought of that spiritual oneness of God and all His 
creation, which he made so prominent a part of his 
teachings. It simply resolves itself into just this: 
Man is created in the image and likeness of God, more 


THE BREAD OP LIFE FROM HEAVEN 171 


than that, he is created out of the very life of God, out 
of the very substance of God. Each Son of man ” 
is therefore a divine being, and is of the Divine Life 
Itself and of that life alone; and so partaking of that 
spiritual life, each is nourished unto eternal life. So 
Jesus continues saying: 

“ This is that bread which came down from heaven: 
not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he 
that eateth of this bread shall live forever.” 

Thus it is life sustaining life and that forever. He 
that eateth of materiality continues to desire and it all 
at last comes to an end. But he that eateth of spir¬ 
itual food lives forever. 

“ These things said Jesus in the synagogue, as he 
taught in Capernaum.” 

Again there was a failure to understand on the part 
of his hearers. They did not know what he was talk¬ 
ing about, and so Jesus says to them after they had 
murmured among themselves: 

“ It is the spirit that quickeneth (or is giving life) ; 
the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak 
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” 

Or, as it reads in the original Greek, ‘‘ The spirit 
is that which makes alive; the flesh profits nothing; 


172 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and 
are life.” The flesh that they thought he was talking 
about as he stood there before them was the flesh that 
perisheth; the flesh which brings sorrow and suffering; 
which may be laid down and which at last disappears. 

You see, Jesus speaks to them of two kinds of food, 
of two kinds of flesh, in the same way that he spoke of 
the two kinds of man: the material man which is bom 
of materiality and which perisheth, and the spiritual 
man who is born of the Spirit and who is endowed with 
eternal life. His disciples and all that hear him are puz¬ 
zled, they do not understand his comparisons and they 
are too steeped in materiality to catch his spiritual mean¬ 
ing. He speaks of material food, like that manna of 
which their fathers in the wilderness did eat, and they 
are dead. Then he speaks of the living bread, of 
which if a man shall eat, he shall live forever. He 
wishes to get their minds away from so much ma¬ 
teriality to an understanding of spiritual things. He 
speaks of the flesh that profiteth nothing,” the ma¬ 
terial flesh which passes away, and of “ the flesh of 
the Son of man,” which is the spiritual man. This 
flesh he says, “ is meat indeed,” or, as one translation 
renders it, “ is the true food.” To eat of this is to 
have eternal life. He that eats of the material food 
shall hunger and thirst again, but he that partaketh 
of the spiritual food is satisfied, and shall know neither 


THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM HEAVEN 173 

hunger nor thirst. ‘‘A man may eat thereof, and not 
die ”; indeed “ if any man eat of this bread, he shall 
live forever.’’ 

From that time many of his disciples went back, 
and walked no more with him. 

‘‘ Then said Jesus unto the twelve. Will ye also go 
away ? ” 

The thing, as I believe, that lay on Jesus* mind more 
closely and more heavily than anything else, was the 
desire that mankind should understand his mission and 
his teachings. And so I can imagine the tenderness 
and pity, and yet the sorrow in his own heart because 
those to whom he had been talking had not recognized 
the spiritual truth in his words. He stood there alone 
in his knowledge of these great truths which he 
would so gladly have communicated to them if they 
would only open their minds to receive. Here were 
the twelve disciples who were bound to him by no 
ties except the ties of choice. He left them free to 
do as they chose, just as he would have every human 
being free. He had invited them to come with him 
and they had accepted his invitation, yet they were 
equally free to go. And now when those to whom 
he has been talking have failed to comprehend him 
and have gone away, and others of his disciples also, 
he does not even appeal to these twelve to stay with 
him. He merely says, Will ye also go away? ” 


174 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom 
shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 

“ And we believe and are sure that thou art that 
Christ, the Son of the living God.’^ 

And yet, we know, it was only with dimness that 
Peter discerned the truth. 


XIII 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 
(John VII.) 

The seventh chapter of John might be called the 
chapter of misunderstandings or discords. From one 
point of view at least, there is little else in it from be¬ 
ginning to end. From another point of view, there 
are expressed some great and most helpful truths. It 
begins by setting forth that: 

After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for he 
would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to 
kill him. 

“ Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.” 

The Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Ingathering’ 
was one of the great feasts. It had grown into a 
distinct formality and was attended with much cere¬ 
mony at the temple. It was the feast at the close of 
the harvest season, very much like our own Thanks¬ 
giving as it was originally, of course varied from our 
Thanksgiving by the character and habits of the peo¬ 
ple and their mode of living. The name “ tabernacle ” 
comes from a custom in use in Judea long before the 

^ Exodus xxiii. i6; Leviticus xxiii. 34-44. 

175 


176 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

temple was built or before the temple ceremonies were 
instituted. The “ tabernacle ” is literally the booth ” 
or '' tent ’’ and designated the temporary shelter which 
the harvesters erected during the harvest time in the 
immediate vicinity of their fields. The climate in 
Palestine at that time of year was favorable for this. 
The weather was mild, without rain, and so they set 
up for themselves temporary shelter, very often sim¬ 
ply built of the branches of trees to keep off the dews 
of night. Here they practically lived during the har¬ 
vest season, and after the harvest was gathered it was 
perfectly natural that they should have their time of 
rejoicing. And out of this grew the temple cere¬ 
monies. 

But it was more than a harvest festival, for it also 
commemorated the journeying of the children of Israel 
from Egypt to Canaan, when they had to dwell in 
booths. We see how too in our own country it has 
been with regard to our Thanksgiving. It was at first 
a day of giving thanks at the end of the harvest time 
when the crops were all gathered, and thanks were 
given for the fruitful year. Out of this has grown 
our national holiday. And out of somewhat similar 
beginnings grew the Feast of the Tabernacles, which 
was one of the most important feasts of the Jews. 
With them as with us, it was a festival of rejoicing 
and of thankfulness, a time of commemoration. It 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 


177 


was incumbent on all Jews to attend this feast, be¬ 
cause as we are all aware, it was an occasion for wor¬ 
ship. And the Jews at the time of Jesus believed that 
God could be worshipped only in the temple. Jesus 
was in Galilee. 

“ His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart 
hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may 
see the works that thou doest. 

For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, 
and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou 
do these things, show thyself to the world. 

“ For neither did his brethren believe in him.” 

They were divided against him. They had heard 
of the wonderful things he had done but they did not 
believe in him. What they said to him in effect was: 
“If you do these things, go where people may under¬ 
stand what you are about. Go, and let people know 
the good things you are doing. Go, that thy disciples 
also may know the works that thou doest.” Now and 
then we have certain instances of the same kind of 
thing happening in these days. 

“ Then Jesus said unto them. My time is not yet 
come; but your time is alway (always) ready. 

“ The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, be¬ 
cause I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 

“ Go ye up unto this feast; I go not up yet unto this 
feast; for my time is not yet full come.” 


178 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Jesus knew that his own work was not yet com¬ 
plete, but this did not apply to his brothers, whose work 
was that of ordinary humanity. He recognized, you 
see, the difficulty into which he was already plunged. 
He could not walk in Judea because the Jews 
sought to kill him; he was hedged about by per¬ 
sonal danger. What was to come to him further, 
others knew not, though he himself may have known. 
And right here he sets forth the reason for the 
antagonism which he aroused in the people. The 
world cannot hate you.’^ The world does not hate 
its fellows; the world does not hate those who are of 
its kind. These brethren of his were of this worldly 
kind, as their language to him here indicates. “ But 
me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works 
thereof are evil.” If we bear this in mind in consid¬ 
ering how Jesus was generally regarded it explains very 
many things. Men do not like to be told of their 
wrong doings. They are immediately antagonized by 
it. And so antagonism was aroused against him. He 
was doing things that the world, the Jewish world, 
understood not. Their uncertainty became fear and 
fear soon grew into hatred. The leaders had recog¬ 
nized already that if the things that Jesus taught should 
be made practical their places would be vacant and 
there would be nothing for them to do. They had 
recognized that his doctrine would overturn the world. 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 179 

Indeed, he even said that the last shall be first and the 
first last. And they themselves were first, and as is 
the case with human nature, they did not like to lose 
their position as leaders. 

“ When he had said these words unto them, he 
abode still in Galilee. 

But when his brethren were gone up, then went 
he also up unto the feast, not openly, (publicly—R. V.) 
but as it were in secret.” 

And yet not exactly in secret. The journey to Judea 
from Galilee on this occasion was always a time of 
rejoicing. It was a motley throng journeying thither, 
and all was jollity and good feeling among them. But 
Jesus merely avoided them, going quietly by himself. 
The feast was not a matter of a day; the ceremonies 
lasted a week; so it would not seem to be essential that 
he should be there all the time. 

We talk much about courage. In fact we have a 
great admiration for it, and we have a quite definite 
idea as to what it will accomplish. The soldier who 
risks his life for his country is honored perhaps more 
than any other man. And yet courage is common 
enough when in the heat of action one is exerting 
himself to the utmost. Almost any one, under pres¬ 
sure, will meet physical danger. But here is an exhibi¬ 
tion of courage on the part of the man who would not 
raise his hand against his enemies yet faces danger 


180 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


to his own life, for he knows that his going up to 
Judea might be considered a challenge. When he ar¬ 
rived, he went directly to the temple, on which all eyes 
at that time were fixed. This man, who beforehand 
knew that he would not lift his hand in self-defense 
whatever might come, and who in the face of death 
itself did not resist, went up to the temple in the very 
midst of his enemies. Courage? Every soldier 
knows that the trying time is before the order to at¬ 
tack is given. Every soldier knows that the most diffi¬ 
cult time is when he waits inactive. But Jesus walked 
up there in the midst of his foes, knowing there was 
not to be on his part one single act of either offense or 
defense. Looked at from the point of view of physical 
courage alone, it was remarkable. 

Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said. 
Where is he? 

“ And there was much murmuring among the peo¬ 
ple concerning him; for some said. He is a good man; 
others said. Nay, but he deceiveth the people (leadeth 
the multitude astray—R. V.). 

“ Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of 
the Jews.” 

Of course they were all Jews, or mainly Jews; it was 
the leaders whom they feared. It was the common 
people who murmured or spoke under their breath and 
not aloud for fear of what the leaders might do. Even 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 


181 


these were divided against him for some said he was 
a good man, while others said he was a deceiver. Thus 
far the story, you see, is but one continual jangle. In¬ 
deed most of this chapter gives a picture of the con¬ 
ditions of public opinion with regard to Jesus. 

“ Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up 
into the temple, and taught.” 

He became immediately a marked man. They had 
been seeking to kill him. He showed himself openly 
before all Judea, and all the Jews were assembled at 
the feast. The action was a public one. Jesus stood 
up before them and delivered his message. 

I wish we had a fuller record of this occasion; I 
wish we knew what he said to these men. But what 
we have here is merely a report of the dispute which 
arose between him and those who derided him. The 
first thing we notice is an increase of the distrust 
among the people and of their dislike of him. 

The Jewish system of education consisted mainly 
in learning the alphabet, so they could read and master 
their sacred texts, and could understand the interpre¬ 
tation of their scriptures. The principal teachers had 
their titles then as we have them now. 

“ And the Jews marvelled, saying. How knoweth 
this man letters, having never learned ? ” 


182 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Jesus had never had any instruction in the niceties 
of their doctrine, and accordingly they put no faith in 
him and would not listen to him. How are we going 
to prove the truth of his words ? Why should we ac¬ 
cept his mere statement unsupported by any of the 
leaders and teachers? they question. And that is the 
position to-day in some respects at least. If a man 
can add a string of titles to his name, if he belongs 
to some important organization, he is accorded great 
honor and is listened to respectfully. That is the gen¬ 
eral way of things, now as well as then. But Jesus 
had none of this homage paid to him. He belonged 
to no school, so far as they knew. He had little if 
any of what they looked upon as learning. 

“Jesus answered them, and said. My doctrine‘ is 
not mine, but His that sent me. 

“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the 
doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of 
myself.” 

This is the answer of Jesus: “My doctrine (or 
teaching) is not mine, but His that sent me.” He had 
learned at a different school; he had been taught not 
by man but by God and he recognized the teaching of 
his Father and so taught the Father’s doctrine. Here 
is the plain assertion of this one, unknown, unlettered 

Teaching” is nearer the original Greek than “doctrine,” 
and is so translated in the Revised Version. 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 


183 


man. And he completes his statement with another 
sublime truth which according to the Revised Version 
is rendered: “If any man willeth to do His will, he 
shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or 
whether I speak from myself.” In other words: “ If 
any man will do the will of God, he shall know whether 
my' teaching is of God or not ”; or, he shall know 
whether the teaching is of God, or whether it is merely 
the teaching of the human mind. What a contrast 
between his own position, and that of those whom he 
is addressing! They are looking for authority, the 
authority of the scholar; while Jesus leaves the issue 
to all mankind. It is not if the scholar, the learned 
man, will do His will, but if any man will do His 
will, he shall know whether the teaching is of God 
or not. 

One translation reads: “If any man wishes to do 
His will ”; we may even say, “ If any man chooses 
to do His will”; or, “If any man loves to do the 
things that God desires, has pleasure in doing the will 
of God, he shall know of the doctrine, or the teaching 
of the Divine Father.” That is the way the spiritual 
inclination works; it prepares the eyes to see, the spirit 
to perceive. We all know this in our own experience. 

Another statement made by Jesus is illustrative of 
this same truth, “ Blessed are they which do hunger 
and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” 


184 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


If any man desires to do God’s will, as a hungry man 
desires to eat or a thirsty man to drink, he shall be 
filled with the knowledge of divine truth. We may 
ask, “ What is God’s will ? ” His will is in accord¬ 
ance with absolute rightness. If any man desires to 
do right he shall be strengthened in the knowledge of 
God. The desire to do right does not mean neces¬ 
sarily the desire to do the things that you now are 
doing. It does not mean loyalty to a certain set of 
ideas or even to any set of ideas. Neither does it 
mean that one should be rooted and grounded in one’s 
own opinion. But it does mean a continual seeking 
after the right, whether it agrees with one’s present 
viewpoint or not. And it means entire willingness to 
change an opinion, however much we may be wedded 
to that opinion, provided, of course, we are convinced 
that it is erroneous. 

This, you see, needs not the teaching of learned 
scholars; it needs not instruction in this theory or that. 
It needs only the wish, the desire, of the person him¬ 
self to see and to do the right. We shall probably 
make mistakes, and sometimes we shall think that to 
be right which is not right, but the desire to do God’s 
will includes the desire to change the course of action 
as soon as one perceives that that course is not the 
correct one. The fruitage of evil or error is always 
within itself. So if we do something that is wrong, 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES ' 185 

there will follow circumstances which,—if we are 
really seeking the truth,—will show us that we have 
erred, and will enable us to regain the right course. 
Thus the way will be shown each time as we advance 
in the truth. There may be much stumbling and 
many falls by the way, indeed the way may even be 
lost at times, but if the wish is earnestly for the right, 
progress will be made. And however much the ex¬ 
perience may be repeated it must at last result in the 
recognition of the truth. Each time one will advance 
a little ahead of where one was before, until the ab¬ 
solute right is reached. So has God constituted each 
human being! There is in the heart of every man this 
impulse to go onward. We are never satisfied with 
our present ideal. An ideal attained, means the 
glimpse of a higher and nobler one farther on. This is 
inevitable, and is always the case wherever we may be 
on the road to progress. After each failure there is 
always an opportunity for a fresh start. Indeed there 
is no such thing as ultimate failure, neither can there 
be, for God is God and each man is a spiritual being. 
Therefore turn to this spiritual self, and trusting its 
perceptions, follow the right. 

He that speaketh of (from—R. V.) himself seek- 
eth his own glory; but he that seeketh His glory that 
sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is 
in him.^’ 


186 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Therefore it is not the glorification of the human 
that we are to proclaim but the glory of Him that 
sent us. And God sends every one of His children 
without exception, just as much as He sent Jesus the 
Christ. Every one of God's children is a spiritual be¬ 
ing, and Jesus tells every one of us to call God Father. 
So in this sonship of God do we find our true spiritual 
relationship and therein is found all truth, right, and 
perfection; with this understanding alone can we say 
“ and there is no unrighteousness in him.” 

Thus does Jesus give his instructions with regard 
to spiritual teaching and he gives also the assurance 
that at last we shall emerge from the error into the 
recognition of the absolute truth. One of the charges 
made against him at this time was that he broke the 
Sabbath, so, changing the subject abruptly he says: 

“ Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of 
you keepeth the law ? Why go ye about to kill me ? ” 

Why, you are breaking the law yourselves! This 
was a serious statement to make to these law-abiding 
Jews, consequently they could not tolerate it, and they 
answered him: 

“ Thou hast a devil (or demon) ; who seeketh to 
kill thee? 

“ Jesus answered and said imto them, I did one 
work, and ye all marvel because of this. 



THE FEAST OP TABERNACLES 187 

“ Moses hath given you circumcision; and on the 
Sabbath ye circumcise a man. 

“ If a man receiveth circumcision on the Sabbath, 
that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth 
with me, because I made a man every whit whole on 
the Sabbath ? ” ‘ 

In circumcision the Sabbath is broken just as much 
as in healing a man on that day. Is it not more rea¬ 
sonable that circumcision should be postponed one day 
to observe the Sabbath law, than that a man should be 
allowed to continue in his suffering because it is the 
Sabbath? Between the two, which is the greater, 
which is of the more immediate necessity, that a man 
should be relieved of his suffering, or that circum¬ 
cision should be performed ? But it was because Jesus 
had healed a man on the Sabbath that they were seek¬ 
ing to kill him. And so he says to them: 

“ Judge not according to the appearance, but judge 
righteous judgment.” 

Often appearances deceive us, and so we are not to 
judge according to the outward appearance; we are to 
look below the surface of things and judge only wise 
and right judgment. There is also another thought 
here: you remember that Jesus said, “I judge no 
man,” yet here he says, ‘‘ Judge not according to the 

‘Verses 20-23 are given according to the Revised Version in¬ 
cluding the marginal reading. 


188 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” He seems 
to contradict himself, yet he spoke accurately when he 
said, “ I judge no man.” It is not man that he is 
judging, but it is an event, an incident, an action. 
There is certainly a difference between condemning 
him who has done wrong, and condemning the wrong 
itself. That was the position of Jesus. Judge not 
even yourself, but judge the error, the evil, the wrong, 
giving it its true character. So you are not to judge 
or condemn him who did the wrong but you are to 
know and condemn the wrong itself, that you your¬ 
self may avoid that same wrong. 

At first the Jews marveled at Jesus’ teaching; now 
they wonder at his boldness. They think that because 
he is not arrested the rulers perhaps know that-he is 
the Christ. But even this conclusion does not satisfy 
them. “No one will know whence Christ cometh,” 
they say. “We know all about this carpenter’s son. 
Surely he cannot be the Messiah.” 

“ Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, say¬ 
ing, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am; and 
I am not come of myself, but He that sent me is true, 
whom ye know not. 

“ But I know Him; for I am from Him, and He 
hath sent me.” 

The confusion increases. But many believe on him 
because of his wonderful works. Finally the Phari- 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 


189 


sees and the chief priests, disturbed by his growing 
popularity, send officers to take him. 

‘‘ Then said Jesus unto them. Yet a little while am 
I with you, and then I go unto Him that sent me. 

“Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and 
where I am, thither ye cannot come.” 

Later Jesus makes the same statement to his im¬ 
mediate disciples. At this point in his career he pre¬ 
dicts that the time is coming when he shall take him¬ 
self entirely away from the world so that the world 
shall see him no more. 

Then on the last day of the festival, the day when 
all the people were there to celebrate the closing of the 
harvest thanksgiving, the priests, bringing with them 
the sacred water, marched into the temple and ap¬ 
peared before the altar. One company of priests went 
on the left hand of the altar and the other on the right 
hand of the altar, one with the wine and the other 
with the water, and prayer was offered for a fruitful 
year and for the abundant rain of the coming winter. 
The people all participated in this ceremony by waving 
branches in their hands. In the pause that followed, 
in that great temple filled with people, 

“ Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, 
let him come unto me, and drink. 

“ He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, 
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” 


190 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Then iii the following verse John offers an explana¬ 
tion of Jesus* words at this place, by saying; 

“ But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that 
believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost 
(Holy Spirit)' was not yet given; because that Jesus 
was not yet glorified.** 

The words of Jesus in verses thirty-seven and thirty- 
eight are quite similar, you see, to those which he had 
spoken to the woman at the well: ‘‘ Whosoever drink- 
eth of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; 
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a 
well of water springing up into everlasting life.** * 

The deep suggestiveness of those words of Jesus 
spoken in the great temple in the presence of the wait¬ 
ing people, in the hush that followed the climax of the 
ceremony, is most impressive. The record then con¬ 
tinues : 

“ Many of the people therefore, when they heard 
this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. 

‘‘ Others said. This is the Christ. But some said, 
Shall Christ come out of Galilee? 

‘‘ Hath not the scripture said. That Christ cometh 
of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethle¬ 
hem, where David was ? ** 

* Revised Version, Margin. 

*In Isaiah (Iv. l) we find a similar passage: “Ho, every one 
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he diat hath ho money; 
come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
money and without price.” 


191 


THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 

So there was a division among the people. See how 
trivial, how infinitesimal, a thing may prevent the rec¬ 
ognition of the truth. What matters it whether it is 
from here or from there if it be the truth? What 
matters it whether one person or another declares it? 
Then, according to the record, some of them would 
have taken Jesus, but no man laid hands on him.” 

“ Then came the officers to the chief priests and 
Pharisees; and they said unto them. Why have ye not 
brought him? 

“ The officers answered. Never man spake like this 
man.” 

And that is true; never man spake like this one. 
There have been many prophets and many great re¬ 
ligious teachers. Not one of them has spoken as Jesus 
spoke. Not one has ever declared such great truths 
as he declared. 

There was a little further discussion, and Nicodemus 
now appears again. Notice that Nicodemus was one 
of the leaders, evidently a popular man, one with social 
position at stake. Yet he made an attempt to defend 
Jesus, for he apparently believed in him, and said: 

“ Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, 
and know what he doeth? 

They answered him. Art thou also of Galilee ? 
Search, and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no 
prophet” 


192 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


They assumed that Jesus was a native of Galilee and 
not of Bethlehem. Evidently they were still convinced 
that only out of Bethlehem could the Messiah come. 
Doubtless they would have been more attentive had 
Jesus come from their great capital, Jerusalem. But 
Galilee was insignificant in their eyes. It was con¬ 
sidered by them almost outside the world, so it was 
they said, ‘‘ for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” 

“ And every man went unto his own house.” 

That was the end of the day, and Jesus went unto 
the Mount of Olives. 


XIV 


THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY 

(John VIII. 2-11) 

“ And early in the morning Jesus came again into 
the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he 
sat down, and taught them. 

“ And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him 
a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set 
her in the midst. 

They say unto him. Master (or Teacher),* this 
woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 

“ Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such 
should be stoned: but what sayest thou ? 

“ This they said, tempting (or trying) * him, that 
they might have (whereof—R. V.) to accuse him. But 
Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the 
ground, as though he heard them not. 

'' So when they continued asking him, he lifted up 
himself, and said unto them. He that is without sin 
among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the 
ground. 

“ And they which heard it, being convicted by their 
own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the 
eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, 
and the woman standing in the midst. 

“ When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none 
but the woman, he said unto her. Woman, where are 
those thine accusers ? hath no man condemned thee ? 


‘Revised Version, Margin. 

193 


194 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto 
her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.’* 

This is the story. We have seen in the previous 
chapter how the enemies of Jesus had sent officers to 
take him, and how they were trying in every way to 
find some charge against him,—something of such 
character and importance as would warrant his arrest 
and removal. Their object was probably to bring him 
into conflict with the Mosaic law. I think they had 
already recognized his teaching concerning adultery* 
and had realized the great difference between his teach¬ 
ing and the law as given by Moses. 

This subject was one of very considerable discussion 
among the Jews at that time; there were two opposing 
parties following two teachers, and public opinion ran 
high. Jesus comes this morning to the temple as he 
had been in the habit of doing, and again they try the 
same kind of question. It was the eighth day of the 
feast and there were many people there, also there was 
more freedom and less formality perhaps than on the 
previous days. Jesus came early and a great company 
of people gathered about him because he excited their 
curiosity. He was teaching strange ideas and there 
was the usual curiosity to see him and to hear what he 
had to say. And so he sat down and taught them. 


‘ Matt. V. 27, 28, 31, 32. 


THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY 195 


And in the midst of this came the scribes and Phari¬ 
sees with this woman. The proceedings were infor¬ 
mal. The procedure under the Jewish law was largely 
so. It was the same, you remember, when Jesus was 
arrested; his arrest was accomplished in a way so con¬ 
trary to our ideas of legal procedure that a large num¬ 
ber of people are inclined to disbelieve the whole story, 
saying that it is a story made up by people who did not 
understand the law. And so here is the same infor¬ 
mality. This woman is brought here in this public 
place. I do not suppose it was in the temple proper, 
but probably in the temple enclosure. Jesus is spoken 
of as teaching in the “ porches,’’ which enclosed an 
area of from twenty-five to forty acres; he was under 
some portion of these porches; you might say out in 
the open air. These people gathered about him as the 
people gather about the preacher in any outdoor meet¬ 
ing in an irregular and informal way. They drew 
near and interrupted his discourse, and stated the case. 
There was no question as to the infraction of the law; 
the woman was clearly guilty. What would he do 
about it? 

This man has taught many things which seem so 
contrary to the law, is their thought. On another 
occasion' he outwitted them when they came to him 
with similar questions, and he turned the tables on 
‘Matt. xix. 3-12; Mark x. 2-12. 


196 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

them. But now they have brought a different set of 
questions. They were talking before about the inter¬ 
pretation of the law, but here is a clear case of viola¬ 
tion of the law, and so they quote the law: 

“ Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such 
should be stoned: but what sayest thou? ” 

Notice the difference between this and the other 
case. With regard to divorce, Moses permitted di¬ 
vorce, and Jesus, according to their way of looking at 
things, might well be justified in being even more strict 
than the Mosaic law required, in not permitting di¬ 
vorce so freely. But here the law is violated. ‘‘ What 
sayest thou ? ” they say. In this way they tried to 
tempt him into some erroneous answer that thus they 
might have cause for their proposed accusations against 
him. 

The issue has been laid before him. He must say 
either yes or no. He must say, “ Stone her or “ Let 
her go.” There were only those two answers which 
he could give. It would seem there was no escape 
from this dilemma, that he must of necessity do one 
thing or the other. If he bade them release her, it 
would be in violation of the Mosaic law, and they 
could lay that charge against him. If he should say, 
“ Stone her,” it would be in violation of his own pre¬ 
cepts. Thus, whatever his answer, the situation was 


THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY 197 


such that they felt they had a charge against him. 
And I think one reason for their antagonism towards 
Jesus was that they had recognized the principle of 
absolute freedom which ran throughout all that he 
taught. So absolute was this principle of freedom 
that, if his teaching were followed in its entirety, the 
scribes and Pharisees would lose their positions, be¬ 
cause their official duties would not be required. They 
had him decidedly in a corner as they thought. Thus 
they felt sure of success in their undertaking. 

** But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote 
on the ground, as though he heard them not.’’ 

Picture this scene for yourselves,—this company 
gathered about Jesus here, a miscellaneous group in¬ 
terested in many different ways in what he had been 
saying, then these men of authority, the scribes and 
Pharisees, bringing to him this woman in her dis¬ 
grace and making their charge against her, a charge 
which they substantiated beyond question. And Jesus 
does not immediately answer, but he stoops down and 
writes on the ground. 

And when they continued asking him, pressing him 
with their questions, he lifted himself up and looked 
about on the assembled people. I think we can im- 
• agine something of how Jesus looked and spoke as he 
gazed into the faces of these men,—knowing their 


198 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


minds and knowing their object, knowing also this 
woman even better than she knew herself,—and said 
to them in impressive tones those wonderful words 
which have been quoted the world over: 

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast 
a stone at her.” 

There are many people even now who are imposing 
judgment upon their fellow men for all sorts of of¬ 
fenses. This sin was then considered a capital offense. 
They had convicted this woman and execution of sen¬ 
tence was all that remained. In these days, if the 
words that Jesus spoke at that time could ring in the 
ears and touch the hearts of the people, the world 
would be less ready with its severe judgments and its 
death penalties. For when that question is brought 
directly home to any individual, there is but one an¬ 
swer, “ I, too, am a sinner.” 

‘‘And again Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the 
ground.” 

He hid his face from them. He left them to them¬ 
selves and their own thoughts. Jesus often prefaced 
his remarks with the words, “ But I say unto you 
which hear.” Frequently he emphasized his state¬ 
ments by the solemn introduction, “ Verily, verily, I 
say unto you.” But in this instance, without any at-^ 


THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY 199 


tempt at emphasis he simply says, He that is without, 
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her/* 

I can understand how, under the solemnity of his 
words and looks, the arrogance and pride, the self- 
conceit and egotistical satisfaction, may have passed 
from the minds of those men who had brought that 
woman there. It was no miracle, it was just the effect 
of his words said as he alone of all men could say 
them. 

And they which heard it, being convicted by their 
own conscience/* 

Jesus appeals, always and under all circumstances, 
to each one's own recognition of truth and right, un¬ 
affected by any external authority whatever. That is 
the wonderful freedom of his teaching. This principle 
is manifest in everything that he says and does. He 
makes no accusation against this woman or against her 
accusers. If he had even said, “Ye are like unto 
her," it would have aroused their antagonism. If 
there had been even the slightest thought of accusa¬ 
tion in his own mind it would have aroused hostility 
and spoiled the effect of his words. He who taught 
the perfect forgiveness, forgave these men who were 
trying to bring a charge against him. He does not 
lift a hand or hold a thought against them. He leaves 
them absolutely free. Why, the very hiding of his 


200 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

face as he wrote upon the ground was an action that 
left them free. And in the same way he leaves every 
one free and has taught us to do likewise. But be¬ 
cause there is in his own mind not one particle of 
condemnation or judgment or other discordant thought 
but only absolute forgiveness, because of this, these 
men are in the position where they can act on their 
own impulse, on their own recognition of themselves, 
with all that such freedom implies. This is the stand¬ 
ard which Jesus set up. It is the standard of abso¬ 
lute perfection. Under this standard they recognized 
the justice of his words and that they were unworthy 
to cast a stone at her. And so without any accusation, 

I without word from any one, 

“ They went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, 
even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the 
woman standing in the midst.” 

The question that they brought to him with such ea¬ 
gerness has disappeared with them. There is no 
longer any dilemma, and there really was not from the 
first. Jesus lifted up himself and looked at the woman. 
The picture that this description brings to mind is 
wonderfully impressive. What could have been the 
thoughts of the woman when Jesus stood up and looked 
at her? What did he say to her, this man who taught 
freedom as no other man has ever taught it; this man 


THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY 201 


who had said, ** Judge not Have you ever stopped 
to think how far-reaching in its meaning is that little 
precept, “Judge not”? We must judge before we 
can execute judgment, for without judgment there can 
be no execution of judgment; without condemnation 
there can be no punishment of one man by another. 

Here was an opportunity to read this woman a lec¬ 
ture on the sinfulness of her life; an opportunity to 
question her, to tell her how bad she was and to hum¬ 
ble her in the dust with scorn and contempt. We, at 
least, consider it our duty to do thus if a person we 
know does wrong. We tell them how wrong it is, 
and we hold the sin up to them in as bad a light as 
possible. Did Jesus do anything of the sort? No, 
he did not. He had already told the Jews what he 
thought about such sins and it was because of what 
he had told them that they brought this woman to him. 
He does not belittle the offense in the slightest; he 
does not smooth it over in any way whatsoever; neither 
does he make accusation. He leaves the matter stand¬ 
ing just where it is, so far as the offense is concerned. 
And we notice that he used in addressing the woman 
the same word that he used when speaking to his own 
mother, for, according to the records we have, Jesus 
then said to her: 

“ Woman, where are those thine accusers ? hath no 
man condemned thee ? ” 


202 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Her answer was simple and straight to the point: 

“ No man, Lord/' 

Here again was an opportunity that no ordinary man 
would refuse, the opportunity to humble her in the 
very dust. This woman convicted by testimony of a 
capital crime, one of the most serious offenses known 
to the law of the land, this woman according to the 
custom of the people of that time, deserved to be 
stoned to death by any person who saw fit. Why, to 
let her go would be to undermine the foundation of 
civilized society; it would be to overturn all social 
considerations; it would be in itself, criminal. Any 
ordinary man would say she ought to be punished, that 
indeed, the law recognizes that she should be punished. 
But Jesus says nothing about punishment. He has 
been talking simply about condemnation, and condem¬ 
nation always precedes punishment. Jesus follows his 
own precept, for he says unto her, “ Neither do I con¬ 
demn thee.” 

He here exemplifies one of the most important points 
in all his teaching :—Judge not; condemn not. He 
himself does not condemn. There was no thought in 
his mind of condemnation of her any more than there 
was of those who had brought her to him. And the 
absence of condemnation means the absence of pun¬ 
ishment. He has followed his own precept; he has 


THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY 203 


not judged. He has literally done as he would wish 
to be done by, as you or I would wish to be done by, 
notwithstanding that men say that it is unsafe to do 
so. Jesus here touches upon the whole system of 
civilized law in this most significant of examples. It 
is not that he does not believe in capital punishment; 
it is that he does not believe in condemnation, and he 
tells us not to condemn, and that means that he does 
not believe in punishment at all. 

I take this as a typical case illustrating just how 
Jesus would have men follow his precepts. If this 
error is to be treated in this way, then so is every other 
error to be treated in the same way. It almost seems 
as though the worst wrong or crime known to man¬ 
kind came to Jesus to be decided upon, and in decid¬ 
ing the course to pursue with this one, he decided the 
course for every other one. 

And Jesus goes a step farther. He not only does 
not lecture her for her offense, he not only does not 
condemn her, but having stated that he does not con¬ 
demn her, he does the next logical thing; he sets her 
free, 

“And Jesus said unto her. Neither do I condemn 
thee: go, and sin no more.” 

The literal Greek is, “ Go, from the now no longer 
sin.” The Revised Version renders the passage, “ Go 


204 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH'JOHN 

thy way; from henceforth sin no more.” That is all. 
And Jesus says that to every human being just as he 
said it to this woman, just as he said it in spirit to 
those scribes and Pharisees, who recognizing his mean¬ 
ing, went without his telling them to do so. She, in 
her humble position, needs to be told to go. They 
went without the telling. 

The great impressiveness of this story is in its very 
simplicity. There is just enough to it to stir the im¬ 
agination and to move the hearts of men to their 
depths; just enough to open the mind to that one cen¬ 
tral thought of all his teaching, forgiveness. The put¬ 
ting of the wrong or evil thought out of the mind is 
from first to last the basis of the whole matter. And 
the discordant thought,—for all wrong thoughts are 
discordant,—being put out of mind, the wrong act, 
however we may characterize or designate it, cannot 
be committed. So it is in every instance, as it was 
in the case of this woman, and of the scribes and Phari¬ 
sees who stole away from the gaze of Jesus. 

The mind being free from discordant thoughts con¬ 
cerning others, perfect forgiveness is the result, and 
one^s heart is filled with love, even the love that loves 
enemies. And the outcome of this, eventually, is ab¬ 
solute purity and perfection, as Jesus himself under¬ 
stood when he said, Be ye therefore perfect, even as 
your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 


XV 


FREEDOM 

(John VIIL 12-36) 

The incident considered in the previous chapter was 
an interruption to the general course of the teaching 
which Jesus presented at the Feast of Tabernacles. 
You remember he did not go up to the temple with 
his brothers, but afterwards by himself; also he seems 
not to have been teaching at first but later on in the 
course of the festival. Thus far there had been a 
continual intensifying of the feelings against him. 
He had himself told his enemies of his realization that 
they were seeking to kill him. They had even sent 
out officers, but these officers had returned without 
taking him. They had had their discussion, as to 
what should be done, and Nicodemus had made some 
effort to defend him. From one point of view, we 
might say that we have here Jesus’ defense of him¬ 
self,—not a mere personal defense, but a setting forth 
in part at least, of the reasons why they should not 
kill him. We have not recognized as clearly as we 
might, how little Jesus puts forward his own person¬ 
ality. He in every way tries to efface his personal 

self that he may the better present to them the Christ, 

205 


206 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


the spiritual self. The discussion continues with in¬ 
terruptions. It does not appear that it was all in one 
day, and the more I study the subject, the more con¬ 
vinced I am that we have in our records only the barest 
outline of what really was said at this time. 

“ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am 
the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not 
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’* 

We are accustomed to look upon this as a very strong 
declaration. To the Jews who were listening to him, 
it was even stronger than we have generally regarded 
it The Jews had been coming more and more to 
speak of God as the Light of the world, and their writ¬ 
ings of that time characterized the Messiah as the 
Light of the world. Although Jesus did not think of 
himself as a Messiah, yet they thought he was claim¬ 
ing to be the Messiah. And here he appears to con¬ 
firm this, when he says, I am the light of the world.” 
That is to say, in accordance with their understanding 
it was as if he said to them, ‘‘ I am the Messiah that 
was to come.” You see he thus intensifies and widens 
the difference between his viewpoint and their own, 
and he gives this convincing reason why they should 
not kill him. It is the strongest personal defense he 
could make, and yet there is nothing of personal char¬ 
acter in it. They simply did not understand his Ian- 


FREEDOM 


207 


guage. This statement does not, as I see it, refer to 
the man Jesus. The divine, spiritual being, the Christ, 
—not the personal man Jesus,—is '' the light of the 
world ''; and not only is the light of the world, but was, 
and ever will be. The difference between his view¬ 
point and their own is seen in the fact that they un¬ 
derstood absolutely nothing of his real meaning. They 
thought he was speaking of himself personally and 
understood his declaration to mean that he, the man, 
was the Messiah. 

'' He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.'* 
This means, he that follows the spirit, the truth, or 
the right, he that follows the Christ, “ shall not walk 
in darkness.*' But shall have the light of life," that 
is, he shall have the light of eternal life, the light of 
God's own life, to guide him. What a marvelous 
statement! But how blind is the human perception in 
this particular case, as in so many others! They were 
bound by their own laws and their own material in¬ 
terpretations, they were looking at the external instead 
of the reality, and thus were entirely oblivious to the 
true meaning of Jesus. Seeking for a point of attack 
the Pharisees say to him: 

Thou bearest record" of thyself; thy record is not 
true." 

*The Revised Version uses "witness” instead of "record” in 
verses thirteen and fourteen. 


208 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


This was a maxim of the Jewish law; if in their 
courts, or in their trials, a man testified of himself and 
there was no corroborative testimony, his testimony 
was not accepted. It was taken to be erroneous and 
there was no longer any case. And so here, they take 
advantage of this legal technicality. It is the same 
kind of proceedings that we have in our own courts, 
in fact, that exist in the courts of every civilized land 
to-day. Men take advantage of legal technicalities to 
gain their ends, rather than attempt to find out the 
truth in the case under consideration. This is an in¬ 
terruption and Jesus meets it, saying: 

Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is 
true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; 
but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.’' 

This may read a little more clearly as given in the 
Revised Version: “ Even if I bear witness of myself, 
my witness is true; for I know whence I came, and 
whither I go; but ye know not whence I come, or 
whither I go.” Because of their ignorance, to them 
this statement is untrue. He practically says to them 
here, that they know not the truth, and indeed, are 
not looking for the truth. And so he continues: 

‘‘ Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.” 

Ye judge after the flesh” that is, ye judge accord¬ 
ing to the material, from the standpoint of error. Ye 


FREEDOM 


209 


judge in accordance with the legal technicality; ye are 
not in search of the truth. ‘‘ I judge no man/' mean¬ 
ing, I, the personal Jesus, judge no one. 

“And yet if I judge, my judgment is true; for I 
am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." 

Jesus would seem at first thought to contradict him¬ 
self here when he says, “ I judge no man " and yet 
immediately adds, “And yet if I judge, my judgment 
is true." But if we study the context the meaning 
will be quite clear. Jesus means that he does not con¬ 
stitute himself the sole judge of any one. The em¬ 
phasis in the Greek shows this, ” Ye judge after the 
flesh; / judge nobody." When he says, “But if I 
judge, my judgment is true," he means that it is in 
accordance with God’s truth. It is not made 
through himself alone as the personal Jesus, but only 
in connection with the Father, for he says, “ Because 
I am not alone, hut I and the Father who sent me” 
Such judgment must be “ true ” because it is of God, 
and therefore it is entirely different from that judg¬ 
ment which is according to the flesh, or which is the 
judgment of the material man, the personal self. It 
is as Jesus said in the fifth chapter of this Gospel: “ I 
can of mine own self do nothing; as I hear, I judge, 
and my judgment is just (righteous—R. V.) ; because 


210 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

I seek not mine own will, hut the will of the Father 
which hath sent mt” 

You see, Jesus is here again referring to spiritual 
conditions, to that which these men neither perceived 
nor understood and of which they had not the slight¬ 
est conception. He then continues, pointing more di¬ 
rectly to the allegation: 

** It is also written in your law, that the testimony 
of two men is true. 

I am one that bear witness of myself, and the 
Father that sent me beareth witness of me.'' 

Or, in other words, “ It is written in your law that 
the testimony of two men is true. I am one who 
testifies concerning myself, and the Father who sent 
me testifies also concerning me." He does not testify 
of himself alone but he testifies in connection with the 
Father. And that testimony of the Father is ex¬ 
pressed throughout the whole career of Jesus. Yet 
how blind they were! We see again in their next ques¬ 
tion that they are still attempting to trap him in his 
talk, to find something they may use against him. 

“Then said they unto him. Where is thy Father? 
Jesus answered. Ye neither know me, nor my Father; 
if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father 
also." 

This question of theirs, “ Where is thy Father," is 
a taunt, whether it arose from ignorance or wilfulness. 


FREEDOM 


211 


And in our understanding of the answer of Jesus we 
must bear in mind the difference between the spiritual 
man and the material man. It was the material or 
earthly nature in them that was talking to Jesus and 
trying to destroy him. 

Jesus' answer perhaps reads a bit more clearly as 
given in the Revised Version: ''Ye know neither me, 
nor my Father; if ye knew me, ye would know my 
Father also." As we know Jesus, the Christ, so do 
we know the Father. No truer words did Jesus utter 
than when he said, " He that hath seen me hath seen 
the Father." ‘ Jesus is here speaking of the spiritual 
vision, the spiritual perception. He that hath seen the 
Christ hath perceived the truth. He therefore does 
know the Father, for God the Father is Truth Itself. 

" These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he 
taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; 
for his hour was not yet come." 

The day before they had sent out officers to arrest 
him, yet here he was in the treasury, the most public 
part of the temple, and the place most resorted to by 
the Jews. There was nothing private or concealed 
about the place nor about his actions, and yet they did 
not take him. And so he said again unto them: 


‘John xiv. 9. 


212 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die 
in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.’* 

The word ‘‘ sins ” means, in the Greek, ‘‘ sinning.” 
Sometimes it means sinfulness.” It denotes the ac¬ 
tive principle of sinfulness. The word in Mark iii. 28, 
—'' all their sins shall be forgiven,” is a different 
Greek word meaning, the act of sinning. Both come 
from a root which means, a failure to hit the mark. 
So the word translated “ sin ” has a broader scope in 
its meaning than just an evil deed. It includes any 
mistake, any deviation from the truth, the not-good 
in any form. This word is equivalent to “ error,” 
which comes from a Latin root meaning, to go astray, 
to wander.’ 

In this instance when Jesus says, ‘‘Ye shall seek 
me” he is speaking of the personal man, not the Christ, ^ 
for it was not the Christ they were seeking. They had 
their idea of the Messiah, of what he ought to be, but 
it was purely a materialistic one. The thoughts they 
had in mind were of external things, of outside show. 
They dreamed of a prince in all the array of royalty, 
sitting on a throne and ruling the people, and slaying 
thousands upon thousands of men. That was their 
idea of the man they were looking for, a man who 

Search After Ultimate Truth, Chapter XXXII, “Error.” 


FREEDOM 


213 


would dominate and control, would drive and direct, a 
man who would kill and slay,—not a man of truth, 
not the spiritual man of God. And this was their 
great mistake, their great misunderstanding. And 
they did die in this error, as untold numbers have 
since died, believing in domination, believing in the 
power and the wealth, the glitter and glare of the 
world, and all the trappings of the external man. 
They were seeking these things and not the truth, or, 
at least, if seeking it, it was for their own selfish ends. 
So Jesus said truly, “ Whither I go, ye cannot come.^^ 
Whither I the Christ, whither I the spiritual being, go, 
these come not. Again it is as he said to Nicodemus, 
‘‘ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” It is spirit 
that recognizes spirit. There is not a quality, not a 
faculty, not an ability of the sense-man which can by 
any possibility perceive spirit. And so Jesus continues 
in the same vein: 

“Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are 
of this world; I am not of this world. 

“ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your 
sins: for if ye believe not that I am (he), ye shall die 
in your sins.” 

The pronoun “ he ” does not occur in the original 
and is in italics in the King James Version, showing 


214 KNOWING THE MASTER THKOUGH JOHN 

that it was inserted by the translators. It is omitted 
in the Revised Version (Margin), the passage reading 
thus: “For except ye believe that I am, ye shall die 
in your sins.” Jesus here uses the emphatic “ I am 
which when thus used we might call the name or title 
of the spiritual being, for here Jesus refers to the 
Christ of himself. The spiritual being is not and 
never will be of this world; but the spiritual being is 
“ from above.” The man of Spirit is born “ from 
above.” He who has not recognized this spiritual 
birth for himself must, as it were, be “ born again ” 
into the recognition of himself as he really is. Then 
they say unto him: 

“ Who art thou?” 

They had caught a glimpse of the truth, and their 
curiosity was aroused. They had recognized that at 
least Jesus was not talking in the ordinary manner of 
speech, and so they say, “ Who art thou ? ” And his 
answer was a declaration that our translators have 
stumbled over ever since it was written here in this 
Book of John, and our commentators have puzzled 
over ever since they began the interpretation of these 
Gospels. As translated in the King James Version it 
reads: 


* See Chapter XVI, pages 238-241. 


FREEDOM 


215 


** Even the same that I said unto you from the be- 
ginning. 

This is easily understood if we take the spiritual 
interpretation as given above. The passage might be 
interpreted thus: “I am that which I told you from 
the beginning of my teaching, even that which I told 
you to-day.^’ Jesus, as we see, is referring here to 
the Christ, the spiritual being of himself. And so he 
continues again: 

I have many things to say and to judge of you.** 

Notice he has just said I judge no man **; I con¬ 
demn no man. Yet here he says, I have many things 
to judge of you,** or, concerning you,** as it reads in 
the Revised Version. We must not forget that it is 
the acts of the man, his errors, his mistakes, and not 
the man himself that Jesus judges, and this only in 
connection with the Father. For when speaking thus 
Jesus always mentions the Father also. So, in this 
instance, he immediately goes on to say: 

But He that sent me is true; and I speak to the 
world those things which I have heard of Him.** 

* This passage in the Revised Version reads: “ Even that which 
I have also spoken unto you from the beginning.” A closer 
rendering of the original might read: “ Whatever from the be¬ 
ginning I tell you; ” while an even closer rendering is, ” Exactly 
what I have been telling you.” 


216 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


He has striven to tell them these things from the 
night when he talked with Nicodemus to the day of 
his conversation with the woman at the well, and now 
also in this most public place of all Judea. He has 
striven to tell them of spiritual things, but all along 
it has been just as it is here; they are looking purely 
to the external, and so as the record states, they under¬ 
stood not that Jesus spake to them of the Father. 

“ Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted 
up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am (he),^ 
and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father 
hath taught me, I speak these things.” 

The Revised Version, including Margin, gives a very 
good rendering of verses twenty-six and twenty-eight: 
“ I have many things to speak and to judge concerning 
you: howbeit He that sent me is true; and the things 
which I heard from Him, these speak I unto the world. 
Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son 
of man, then shall ye know that I am, and that I do 
nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I 
speak these things.” 

As elsewhere explained, the “ Son of man ” is the 
spiritual being of man. Jesus had previously said, 
“ The Father hath committed all judgment unto the 
Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they 

* As in verse 24, " he " does not occur in the original Greek. 


FREEDOM 


217 


honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son hon- 
oreth not the Father which hath sent him/' This 
means that men should honor the divinity within them¬ 
selves. “ When ye have lifted up the Son of man,” 
or when you lift up the divine being of yourself, when 
you honor that spiritual being which is your real, true 
self, and recognize that you are indeed a child of God, 
then shall you understand what Jesus means when he 
says, Ye shall know that I am,^ and that I do noth¬ 
ing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak 
these things.” 

** And He that sent me is with me; the Father hath 
not left me alone; for I do always those things that 
please Him.” * 

Even by the coldest philosophy, by the coldest sci¬ 
ence, God is recognized as infinite; then if He is in¬ 
finite, He is not only with Jesus the Christ, but He 
is with you and me and He is with every individual 
being that exists,* or ever has existed, or ever will exist. 
** He that sent me is with me; the Father hath not left 
me alone.” God is omnipresent, therefore He is pres¬ 
ent not only here and now, but everywhere and at 
all times. We may well ask to have our perception 
quickened as Jesus' was, so that we, too, may per¬ 
ceive these great truths even as he perceived them. 

* See Chapter XVI, pages 238-241. 


218 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ For I do always those things that please Him.’' 
Who else can make this assertion? And in doing 
those things that please God, there comes the light 
that reveals His presence to the perception of the doer. 
We ask sometimes, why so many failures? The an¬ 
swer, or the suggestion of the answer, is found in this 
declaration of Jesus, for if we do those things which 
please God we cannot fail. And He lias not left us 
alone. It must have been an impressive moment, for 
the narrator says: 

‘‘ As he spake these words, many believed on him. 

“ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on 
him. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my dis¬ 
ciples indeed.” . 

“ If ye continue in my word,” that is, if ye continue 
in my teaching, if ye abide in my instruction; and the 
Revised Version reads: ** li ye abide in my word, then 
are ye truly my disciples.” My instruction is the 
truth, for ‘‘as the Father hath taught me, I speak 
these things.” He turns to no human authority. He 
has listened to the voice of God Himself. 

“ And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
make you free.” 

One of the great quests or desires of the world has 
been for freedom; freedom to live and to do as one 


FEEEDOM 


219 


chooses. Men have pursued it in all sorts of ways, 
often failing to grasp its true meaning, and they are 
still seeking it. Yet real freedom is found only in the 
truth, in true living. Look over the laws of the world 
from earliest times until to-day; do not omit even the 
laws of the Jews, nor the Decalogue; and the burden 
is,— bondage ,—“ Thou shalt not.’' We are told that 
we must not do this, or that, or the other thing. In 
prohibition there is no freedom, and can be no free¬ 
dom. This for the world of materiality. But turn 
to the other side; turn to the truth, and for a moment 
think what truth really is. Truth is absolute rightness 
and there is no need of prohibition in absolute right¬ 
ness. There is no “ Thou shalt not ” in the truth, for 
there is perfect freedom. Truth is absolute good, and 
when we attain that, there is nothing to prohibit. 
Sometimes we seem to recognize a need of prohibition 
in connection with some of the things which we call 
good, but the instant that thought appears we should 
realize that it has been caused by the not-good, the 
error, because there is always the thought of prohibi¬ 
tion in connection with error. No one ever yet con¬ 
templated a wrongful or a sinful act without the warn¬ 
ing voice of the conscience within him saying, '' Thou 
shalt not.” 

In our search for freedom we frequently make mis¬ 
takes as to what freedom really is. For instance, the 


220 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


boy is told that he must not drink. That, to him, is an 
interference with his liberty. He thinks he is being 
limited in the course of his freedom, and there is in 
every human being that ever was born, the instinct to 
rebel against the limitation of his freedom. This is 
because of the divinity which resides in every human 
being and which instinctively believes in and seeks for 
freedom. The boy therefore defies the prohibition 
and drinks; but he awakes to bondage and learns his 
mistake,—that freedom does not lie in that direction. 

So have men, even wise men, done throughout the 
history of the world. They do not look where free¬ 
dom is, just as those Jews who were having this dis¬ 
cussion with Jesus, did not look where freedom really 
was. Freedom is in the absolute truth and nowhere 
else. And in living the truth we find real freedom. ^ 
The door thereto is narrow, the way is narrow, and 
will be, so long as we recognize evil and believe in it. 
But when we once enter in at that door, then shall we 
go in and out and find pasture. There is the whole 
of God’s creation open before us; the infinite universe 
is His creation, and therein is no limitation whatsoever. 
So let us remember that Jesus said, “If ye continue 
in my word (my teaching), then are ye my disciples 
indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
make you free/* 

But what did these Jews understand of this? Sen- 


FREEDOM 


221 


sitive, proud of their nationality and their race, they 
scorned the suggestion that they were anything but 
free. 

“ They answered Jesus, We be Abraham's seed, and 
were never in bondage to any man; how sayest thou. 
Ye shall be made free.^" 

How far away they were in their ignorance! The 
contrast between those who deal with external things 
and those who deal with truth is clearly set forth here. 
And Jesus replies: 

“ Verily, verily, I say unto you. Whosoever com- 
mitteth sin is the servant of sin." 

The Revised Version reads: Every one that com- 
mitteth sin is the bondservant of sin." Another ren¬ 
dering is, ‘‘ Indeed, I assure you, that every one doing 
sin is a slave of sin." Whosoever doeth wrong is the 
servant of wrong, is in bondage to that wrong. It 
makes no difference what the error is. The man who 
lies, must pay the penalty for that lie; he is therefore 
in bondage to that lie. The man who steals must 
make his stealing good, so is he in bondage to that 
stealing. And so throughout the whole catalogue of 
sins. Error or wrong, whichever you choose to call 
it, is the exact opposite of truth, and if truth be free¬ 
dom, then error or sin is bondage. The word trans- 


222 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

lated servant ” is stronger than our translators make 
it and literally means “ slave/' Whosoever commits 
sin is the bonded slave of sin; that is the literal mean¬ 
ing of the Greek. Touch one point of error with but 
the tip of your finger, and to that error the man who 
touches it, is in bondage. 

But Jesus does not leave the subject here, he takes 
up as an illustration a social condition that was well 
known to his auditors: 

‘‘The servant (or slave) abideth not in the house 
forever; but the Son abideth ever." 

There were various ways in which the slave was set 
free; he for instance could be sold to another house. 
He was the chattel of his master, and only under cer¬ 
tain laws could he be made free. Thus, this state¬ 
ment that the servant abideth not in the house for¬ 
ever is a most gracious one, for under the preceding 
statement as it stands, a pall of darkness might shut 
down on the whole human race. But, “ The servant 
abideth not in the house forever," meaning, “We shall 
not always be in bondage." 

Because of God's infinity, because He is literally 
omnipresent, all error or sin must eventually disappear, 
and with it will disappear the idea of slavery in all its 
forms. Then shall man awaken to his real freedom, 
then shall he truly manifest his sonship. 


FREEDOM 


223 


Turn back to that discussion with the Jews, who 
persecuted Jesus for healing the man on the Sabbath 
day, and read there again what '' the Son means/ 
The next time you repeat the Lord's Prayer, stop a 
moment and think what you are in the essential of 
yourself that Jesus should tell you to say Our Fa¬ 
ther/* The Son, the divine being which you are in your 
true spiritual existence, is with you always. So the 
bondage caused by our ignorance will not abide forever, 
but the Son abideth forever/* 

** If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall 
be free indeed.” 

When you realize that ‘‘ the Son,” your spiritual 
self, is free, then are you indeed free. This is the 
perfect freedom, and this freedom comes at last to 
every one of God’s children. It will come at last even 
to the persecutors of Jesus, because they shall one day 
understand, and understanding shall escape from their 
bondage. It comes at last to the whole world, for 
the servant abideth not forever, but the Son abideth 
ever.” 

Therefore freedom such as this is yet to be, because 
in fact it is the heritage of every one of God’s family. 
We do not use it, because we have not perceived it, or 


* John V. especially verses 19-27. 


224 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


rather, we use it only in proportion as we have per¬ 
ceived it. But we shall one day perceive it in its full¬ 
ness, and then we shall realize that “ the Son,” the I 
am,” abideth forever. 


XVI 


CONCLUSION OF THE TABERNACLES 

DISCOURSE 

/ (John VIIL 37-59) 

We come now to the conclusion of the discourse, as 
well as the culmination of the incidents at the Feast 
of the Tabernacles. In the last chapter we discussed 
Jesus’ great declaration of freedom: ''Ye shall know 
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And 
we remember how there was again a failure to under¬ 
stand on the part of the Jews. They, in the pride of 
their nationality, were disturbed by the suggestion that 
they had ever been anything but free, and so, failing 
to recognize the great principle of freedom which Jesus 
presented, they started to defend themselves from the 
possible allegation that they were slaves, by saying, 
'‘We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage 
to any man; how sayest thou. Ye shall be made free? ” 
We discussed also, the answer of Jesus to that. It 
was not the bondage of the nation, the ordinary slavery 
of man, that he was talking about, but it was the bond¬ 
age to error, and the servitude of sin. And he con¬ 
cludes what he has to say on that point by acknowledg¬ 
ing their declaration that they are Abraham’s seed, for 
he says: 


226 


226 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek 
to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.” 

That is, “ You seek to kill me because you have no 
recognition of the truth which I am telling you.” Then 
he asserts: 

‘‘ I speak that which I have seen with my Father; 
and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.” 

Jesus makes the contrast clear and distinct between 
his position and theirs. He speaks that which he has 
seen with his Father, meaning that he, the spiritual 
man, the Christ, is attempting to tell them of God’s 
spiritual truth, which they, as we have seen all along, 
fail to recognize, always turning their attention to 
material things. In sharp contrast to his behavior 
they are seeking to kill him, and thus they are doing 
that which they have seen with their father, the ma¬ 
terial man. 

“ They answered and said unto him, Abraham is 
our father.” 

Jesus has just said, “ I know ye are Abraham’s 
seed,” and now comes what seems like a contradiction, 
for in answer to their claim that they are Abraham’s 
seed, he replies: 

‘‘If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the 
works of Abraham.” 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOURSE 227 


But a closer rendering of the original Greek is, “ If 
you are Abraham’s children, do the works of Abra¬ 
ham.” According to this interpretation the contra¬ 
diction disappears. Then he adds: 

“ But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told 
you the truth, which I have heard of God; this did 
not Abraham.” 

Now from one point of view, they were Abraham’s 
children, yet from another point of view, they were 
not. If they had been in spirit the children of Abra¬ 
ham, they would not have contemplated doing those 
things they were proposing to do. It was the external 
man who so proposed; the spiritual being of them¬ 
selves was hidden behind this external. Jesus had 
heard and learned of God; they had heard and learned 
from another source that was directly contrary to that 
spiritual source. And so he says: 

“ Ye do the deeds of your father.” 

Then they, smarting under his statements, and rec¬ 
ognizing more or less the force of them, hurl at him 
the strongest assertion they can possibly make: 

‘‘We be not born of fornication; we have one Fa¬ 
ther, even God.” 

Somehow or other, it would seem that because of 
these things which Jesus had told them, something of 


228 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

the truth that God is indeed the Father of every man, 
had entered their minds. And so here, they lay claim 
to that. Thus they had some idea, some recognition 
of the great truth which he had attempted to reveal 
to them in all that went before. But Jesus meets them 
even on this point. 

If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I 
proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I 
of myself, but He sent me.” 

He speaks with the entire consciousness and con¬ 
fidence of himself, born of his communication with 
the Father, born of his knowledge of the Father, born 
of his recognition of infinite truth. You remem¬ 
ber how he said in the fifth chapter of John, ‘‘ The 
Son can do nothing of himself,” and a little farther 
on in the same chapter, “ I can of mine own self do 
nothing.” And so he says here, “ I proceeded,, came 
forth from God, but not of myself, but He sent me.” 
Jesus always refers to God as the inspiration of his 
spiritual actions, his spiritual doings, always calling 
Him the author of the divine being within himself. 
He repeatedly says to men as he said in the Sermon 
on the Mount, “ Let your light so shine before men, 
that they may see your good works, and glorify your 
Father which is in heaven.” He uses similar expres¬ 
sions throughout all his teachings, always recognizing 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOURSE 229 


through spiritual perception that the good is from 
God and from Him alone. So, too, Paul says, “ It 
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do 
of His good pleasure.” ^ Always this, “ I of myself 
can do nothing.” And now Jesus emphasizes again 
the great gulf between the material and the spiritual, 
for he goes on to say: 

Why do ye not understand my speech? ” answer¬ 
ing at once, “ even because ye cannot hear my word.” 

Cannot hear his word ? They were listening to the 
audible word, and heard it with terrible distinctness, 
but it filled not their hearts with the love of God. 
These men heard only with the external ear; that ear 
hears not and never can hear the spiritual truth; it is 
the inner perception which recognizes truth. Thus it 
was they heard not his spiritual teaching. What little 
of truth had filtered down through their dense under¬ 
standing they used only for self-defense against his 
charges, as when they said that they were children of 
Abraham, aye more, that they were children of God. 
“ Why do you not understand my speech ? even be¬ 
cause you cannot hear my word.” The divine con¬ 
science existing in every man proclaims the word of 
truth. As darkness is to light, as John stated in the 
first part of his Gospel, so error is to truth, so is the 


‘Philippians ii. 13. 


230 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


material man to the spiritual man. These senses of 
ours do not tell us one single thing with regard to God, 
not one single recognition of Him comes to us through 
the sense perceptions.' It is the spiritual perception 
alone that recognizes spirit, that hears the word of 
God. And so these men of the earth could not un¬ 
derstand his speech, for they were listening only with 
the outer ear. Jesus continues, further characterizing 
them, with this stern accusation, “Ye are of your fa¬ 
ther the devil.” 

We see that Jesus is alluding to what seems to be 
a dual existence; the spiritual existence, which is the 
true being of man and which represents the truth; 
and the material existence which is the earth man, rep¬ 
resenting untruth. The material man is of materiality, 
and of that alone. The spiritual being is of God. 
They were meeting his statements of spirituality with 
the statements of materiality. And so Jesus was re¬ 
ferring here to the material man of them. 

“ Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of 
your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the 
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there 
is no truth in him.” 

Here is a translation which follows the meaning of 
the Greek as closely as does the King James Version: 

Search After Ultimate Truth, Part Four, “Materiality.” 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOUKSE 231 


You are from the father, the slanderer, and the lusts 
(desires, wishes) of your father you wish to do (or 
are determined to do). He was a manslayer from 
the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because 
there is no truth in him.” The word that in the King 
James Version is translated “devil” means “one 
prone to slander, or one accusing falsely.” Evil, error, 
is always accusing truth, always making a false state¬ 
ment with regard to the truth, indeed is always seeking 
to prevent the truth. 

Evil is the one that brought them forth, and so 
the desires of that evil they will do. Evil recognizes 
evil, and the desire of evil is for more evil, and is never 
towards the right. Evil is a murderer from the be¬ 
ginning, literally a manslayer. In this world, as we 
see things, evil kills; evil is slaying mankind on every 
hand. So they, in those days, were doing the deeds 
of their father the devil, or evil, in attempting to slay 
Jesus, for their father was a manslayer from the be¬ 
ginning. If you go back to the Old Testament, to 
the story of the serpent in the third chapter of Genesis, 
you will find this idea of sin distinctly set forth. And 
so is Jesus’ statement here straight to the point, and 
thus does he characterize evil or the spirit of evil. 

Jesus makes here the distinction between right and 
wrong, or between truth and untruth, as clearly as 
he makes it all the way through, from the Sermon on 


I 


232 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

the Mount to the close of the Gospels; as when he 
said to Nicodemus, ‘‘ That which is born of the flesh 
is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit ”; 
and in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, “ Every 
good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree 
bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring 
forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth 
good fruit.” The cleavage is as distinct in one place 
as another. There is no truth in evil and when the 
two appear to be mingled we may by analysis separate 
the untruth from the truth until we have on the one 
hand that which is evil alone, and on the other hand, 
that which is truth alone. We see the good and evil 
apparently mingled together in the world, like the 
wheat and the tares growing together in the field, but 
if we examine closely we shall see that, like the wheat 
and the tares, they are distinct from each other. Hav¬ 
ing characterized the position of these men, Jesus goes 
on to say: 

‘‘ When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: 
for he is a liar, and the father of it.” 

This man of materiality speaks out of his own sin; 
he is a liar and therefore the father of a lie, because 
of his own error. 

“And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me 
not.” 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOURSE 233 

As before stated, evil does not recognize truth, and 
so because Jesus speaks the truth, these men, so im¬ 
bued with error, so filled with untruth, were abso¬ 
lutely unable to believe him. The reason why they 
did not believe lay not in him but in themselves. There 
was that in them, as in every man, that might have 
heard and received the truth. But the spiritual rec¬ 
ognition was overclouded with the mists of materiality. 
Jesus continues: 

“ Which of you convinceth (convicteth—R. V.) me 
of sin ? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe 
me?’’ 

Though put as a question, it is yet an exclamation. 
He has done his best. You know how it has been 
whenever Jesus has spoken; it has been with the same 
kind of interjection and interruption, with the same 
contradictions, the same blindness of spiritual under¬ 
standing, on the part of these men. And again Jesus 
states a proposition similar to some that have gone 
before, though in different language: 

‘‘ He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye there¬ 
fore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” 

He that is of God heareth God’s words.” A pas¬ 
sage from the First Epistle of John is directly in har¬ 
mony with these words of Jesus: We are of God: 


234 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God 
heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, 
and the spirit of error.” This is always so. We no¬ 
tice how on some of the most solemn occasions when 
Jesus was uttering the deepest truths, he would preface 
what he was about to say with, But I say unto you 
which hear.” But on this occasion he was talking to 
blind eyes and to deaf ears, and to hearts of error. 
So is it any wonder that these men responded as they 
did to these statements of his ? 

“ Then answered the Jews, Say we not well that 
thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil ? ” ^ 

To evil, truth is itself evil. Every man, every hu¬ 
man being, who has ever attempted to teach the truth, 
has been attacked by the slanders of evil. It is the 
same the world over, and this is always the fate of 
truth at the hands of error. Thou art a Samaritan! ” 
Scorn and contempt! A Samaritan according to their 
idea was only fit to be spit upon. So it was hardly 
stronger language when they added, and hast a devil.” 
It is curious, but entirely consistent with the philosophy 
of Jesus, that he does not stop to answer to the in- 

* In verses 48, 49, 52, the word for “ devil ” in the original is 
different from the word “ devil ” just discussed in verse 44. In 
“ Thou hast a devil ” the word is one sometimes called “ demon ” 
and is not necessarily allied with the devil. It is more as if 
they had said, “ Thou art bewitched ” or “ Thou art crazy.” 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOURSE 235 


dignity which they thought was contained in charging 
him with being a Samaritan. Jesus recognizes all men 
as equal and he merely contents himself with saying: 

“ I have not a devil; but I honor my Father, and ye 
do dishonor me.^^ 

I think that they were honest in their convictions, 
that they thought they were doing right. In the vast 
majority of cases, the man who does wrong thinks that, 
under the circumstances, what he does is the right thing 
for him to do. So always is the course of untruth, 
so always does error fail to understand. 

“ And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that 
seeketh and judgeth. 

“ Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my 
saying, (word—R. V.) he shall never see death.” 

As I have said before in our consideration of this 
discourse, I think we have the barest outline of what 
Jesus said at this time. I wish we did have the words 
connecting this declaration with the one immediately 
preceding. However, no matter how far behind him 
we may walk, we yet are confident that if any man 
does keep the sayings of Jesus '‘he shall never see 
death.” But to them this was a ridiculous statement. 
He had made it before, and he made it afterwards; 
but they, in their ignorance, failed to understand, just 
as many scientific men of to-day do, who are search- 


236 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

ing in materiality alone for the solution of great truths. 
To them, materiality is all there is of us, and to their 
thinking, when materiality disappears, we disappear 
too. Then said the Jews, in reply to this strange dec¬ 
laration made by Jesus: 

“ Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham 
is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest. If a man 
keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 

“ Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which 
is dead ? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou 
thyself ? 

“ Whom makest thou thyself ? ” This is what they 
have been asking all along. ‘‘ Who art thou ? ” He 
had not yet told them to their satisfaction. Jesus 
merely replies: 

‘Hf I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my 
Father that honoreth me; of whom ye say, that He is 
your God.” 

The rendering of this passage in the Revised Version 
is: ‘‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is 
my Father that glorifieth me.” “ My Father, whom 
ye say is your God.” That was their claim in their 
egotism. And yet they were right in their claim, for 
Jesus taught us and all mankind to say, “ Our Father 
which art in heaven.” In making this claim for him¬ 
self, he claims no more than he tells us to claim for 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOURSE 237 


ourselves. It is not the external, material man who 
is the Son of God, but it is the spiritual man. Yet by 
many of us this spiritual being has been so unrecog¬ 
nized that we scarcely realize its existence. 

Yet ye have not known Him.’’ 

This declaration applies to the whole human race. 
Search history from the beginning until now, from 
the past down to the present, and how much does it 
tell, how much does it know of God the Father? 
Rather how much has He been misrepresented on 
every hand! Mankind knew not until the Christ,came 
forth and declared the truth. 

“Ye have not known Him; but I know Him: and 
if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like 
unto you: but I know Him, and keep His saying” (or 
word). 

Who can echo that? We get dim glimpses of the 
Infinite Divine Being whom we call God, flashes of an 
instant that light us throughout our career; yes, it is 
true that just one instant of such recognition is enough 
to enlighten a lifetime on this earth. But who of us 
shall say that we know Him? Jesus the Christ is the 
only one who has thus known Him and his declara¬ 
tions so often fall on ears that hear not. But we do 
hear sometimes and it is the sound of a harmony that 


238 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


is beyond human ears; we do sometimes receive 
glimpses that are beyond human sight, and are indeed 
glimpses of a glory ineffable. Such knowledge is not 
beyond us, as we must realize if we but listen to the 
words of Jesus. Notice Jesus says, I know Him and 
keep His saying” And we shall have a deeper, clearer 
knowledge of God if we do the same. In order to 
become acquainted with God we should follow the 
teachings of Jesus. First of all, we should follow his 
great precept, Love your enemies” Jesus never told 
us to undertake an impossibility. And it is for us, it 
is for every human being, to accomplish all that Jesus 
told us to accomplish. Then he gives to them another 
statement, more amazing than anything they had yet 
heard, as well as more contrary to their own ideas: 

‘‘Your father Abraham rejoiced^ to see my day; 
and he saw it, and was glad. 

“ Then said the Jews unto him. Thou art not yet fifty 
years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 

“ Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
Before Abraham was, I am.” (Or, “ Before Abra¬ 
ham was horn, I am.” (R. V. Margin.) 

Let us go back a little in the history of the Jews 
to the time when Moses had been appointed to lead 
the children of Israel out of the land of the Egyptians. 

* The word that is translated “ rejoiced,” means " rejoiced 
vastly,” or “ with great joy.” 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOURSE 239 

Moses was doubting and fearing, and so did not know 
what to do. He asked of God: 

Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, 
and shall say unto them. The God of your fathers hath 
sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is 
His name ? What shall I say unto them ? 

‘‘ And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: 
and He said. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of 
Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” ^ 

The first phrase or declaration, ‘‘ I AM THAT I 
AM,” because of its very simplicity presents some diffi¬ 
culty of translation. The Revised Version, Margin, 
renders it, “ I AM BECAUSE I AM,” or ‘‘ I AM 
WHO AM,” or, I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE.” 
The Septuagint, (meaning the Greek version) literally 
translated, reads, I AM THE ONE THAT IS, 
THE ONE THAT IS hath sent me unto you.” So 
Plato contrasts pure Being, that which is, with the 
material things which only appear to be. 

Now when we take this phrase, “ I AM THAT I 
AM,” in connection with the one which follows, “ Thus 
shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath 
sent thee,” I think we get a suggestion of the meaning 
which is contained here. “ I AM THAT I AM; I 
AM hath sent thee.” It is a declaration of being, of 
existence; a declaration of reality that passes mere 

* Exodus iii. 13, 14. 


240 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


personality and includes within its meaning all the char¬ 
acteristics that comprise the Infinite Being. I AM 
THAT I AM; I, THE BEING THAT IS BEING.' 

So Jesus says, '‘Before Abraham was, I am”^ 
This is the designation for that divine, ever-existing 
life which was manifested in the Christ. It is indeed 
a declaration of the essential of himself, a declaration 
of eternal existence, and one which he himself must 
have understood, though knowing that they in their 
blindness could not understand. This “ I Am,” the 
divine spirit, existed in Jesus and it exists in every 
man. Without that spirit as the basis of his existence, 
no man could be. 

“ Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus 
hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through 
the midst of them, and so passed by.” 

Because he had told them the truth,—they not only 
reviled him, contradicted, and slandered him, but they 
would kill him. And such is apt to be the fate of 

* For a fuller discussion see, A Search After Ultimate Truth, 
Chapter XVI, “ Existence.” 

*This expression, “I am,” as here used by Jesus, means, "/ 
exist.” When the verb “ to be ” has this emphatic meaning it 
is accented in the Greek, while it is without accent when used 
to introduce a predicate noun. It is without accent, for example, 
in John vi. 35, “I am the bread of life”; also in John x. 7, ii; 
xiv. 6; XV. I. In John viii. 24 and 28 and in xiii. 19 we find the 
unaccented form in the text but the emphatic form given as an 
alternate reading. To me the emphatic rendering is preferable 
in these places. 


CONCLUSION OF THE DISCOURSE 241 


those who speak the absolute truth. And what won¬ 
der that it was much more the fate of Jesus who spoke 
the truth as no one else has spoken it! This was 
what he had prophesied: that they should kill him. He 
knew his fate beforehand. Such knowledge is beyond 
reach of the human intellect; it comes only to the 
spiritual understanding. 

And so before Abraham existed, the ‘‘ I AM ” ex¬ 
isted. And nowhere do we find the meaning of this 
better expressed than in the words at the beginning of 
this Gospel. We have quoted these before but they 
will well bear repetition. According to the Revised 
Version with Margin, they read: 

“ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word was God. The same 
was in the beginning with God. 

“ All things were made by or through Him; and 
- without Him was not anything made. 

“ That which hath been made was life in Him; and 
the life was the light of men.” 

This Life is the Light that lighteth every human be¬ 
ing that has ever come into the world. We may desig¬ 
nate it by whatever term we can best understand or 
which means the most to us. We may call it, the ‘‘ I 
AM,” or the ‘‘ Infinite Being,” or ‘‘ God the Father,” 
and to most of us this last name is dearest to our 
hearts. 


XVII 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 

(John IX.) 

The ninth chapter of John is a literary gem. It is 
not only wondrous in the story which it tells, in the 
arrangement of the incidents, and in the moral lesson 
that it teaches, but it is in exact accord with the strict¬ 
est canons of literature. The opening words introduce 
the whole subject: 

“ And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was 
blind from his birth. 

“ And his disciples asked him, saying. Master, who 
did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born 
blind ? 

“ Jesus answered. Neither hath this man sinned, nor 
his parents: but that the works of God should be made 
manifest in him. 

“ I must work the works of Him that sent me, while 
it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 

‘‘ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of 
the world.” 

The disciples of Jesus noticing the man begging by 
the wayside, and his blindness, conclude that his in¬ 
firmity has been caused by sin, either the sin of the 

man or his parents, for they ask, “ Who did sin, this 

242 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 243 


man, or his parents, that he was born blind? ” Jesus 
gives the immediate answer, “ Neither hath this man 
sinned, nor his parents/^ It is not a question of sin in 
this particular case, that is, as we understand sin. A 
man walking on the slippery pavement may fall and 
break an arm or a leg. Do we ask who has sinned 
that the man has suffered this mishap? We do not 
count it as such, and Jesus here says that it is not. 
Certainly it was not sin that caused the man to make 
a false step and fall, and so we may rightly say that, 
in the generally accepted meaning of the word, it was 
not sin that occasioned this man's blindness. On the 
other hand, we know that the truth never caused a 
misfortune, but that in a calamity of any description, 
some error will always be found to be the cause, some¬ 
thing that we may class as the not-good. 

Jesus' answer particularly engages our attention, be¬ 
cause there is a suggestion in it which seems a rather 
hard one. To many kind-hearted people it seems as a 
stumbling block, in the relation the words bear to God, 
—Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: hut 
that the works of God should be made manifest in 
him/' We shrink naturally, and rightly, I would say, 
from the thought that God made this man blind at his 
birth, keeping him so up to the time when Jesus healed 
him, in order that His glory might be made manifest 
in him. We think, first of all, that such a thing would 


244 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


not be necessary; and next, we think that we ourselves 
would hardly do a thing like that, no matter how much 
we might be seeking the glory of God. The whole 
matter, as it seems to me, turns on a question of punc¬ 
tuation. 

The old manuscripts of the scriptures have no punc¬ 
tuation marks at all. So punctuation becomes a mat¬ 
ter of interpretation on the part of the translator. If 
in this instance we change the period to another place, 
we get an entirely different meaning, thus: “Neither 
hath this man sinned, nor his parents. But that the 
works of God should be made manifest in him, I must 
work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day.” 
This transfers the centre of thought from God to 
Jesus; from what God has done to what Jesus is to do. 
So the works of God are to be made manifest in this 
man by the action of Jesus the Christ. What are the 
works of God? Whatever else we may say of them, 
we recognize at least that they are perfection. What¬ 
ever discloses an error, whatever puts away a wrong 
of any description, affords always a clearer view of 
perfection. Therefore, whatever tends towards the 
revelation of perfection is making manifest the works 
of God. 

Thus the meaning is changed entirely by merely put¬ 
ting the period in another place. “ That the works of 
God may be made manifest, I, or We, as in the Re- 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 245 


vised Version, must work the works of Him that sent 
me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man 
can work.” Or, the time cometh when the chance for 
that work is past, the opportunity is gone, and it never 
comes again in just the same way, because nothing in 
all God’s world is ever exactly repeated. We must 
do the thing that is for us to do, now, at the present 
time, that is, while the opportunity is at hand, for 
when this opportunity passes we may not again have 
the chance. 

Then Jesus says, “As long as I am in the world, I 
am the ^ light of the world.” How long is he in the 
world ? Let him answer for himself: “ Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world.” * These 
were among the very last words of Jesus, being uttered, 
according to our records, after his resurrection. The 
Christ is always with us. But how frequently it hap¬ 
pens that the light that is within us is so obscured by 
the darkness of ignorance that we do not perceive it. 
This finishes the introduction to the story. The next 
item is: 

“ When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, 
and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes 
of the blind man with the clay, 

“ And said unto him. Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. 

'“I am a light of the world” is nearer the Greek. 

*Matt. xxviii. 20. 


246 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


He went his way therefore, and washed, and came 
seeing.'* 

It is a continual marvel that all the works of Jesus 
were done with such entire simplicity. And Jesus 
never performs any two of his miracles in just the 
same way. He never repeats himself; but whether 
he touches the lepers, or bids the ten go and show 
themselves to the priests, the result is always the same; 
in every instance the healing is accomplished with no 
pretense, no claim for greatness. 

“ He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spit¬ 
tle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the 
clay." Immediately the question arises, Did Jesus 
believe in and use material means in his healing? " 
We know that he did not even require the presence 
of the person to be healed,' as in the case of the noble¬ 
man’s ^son. That was with him a secondary consid¬ 
eration. Yet there was something in his recognition 
of the circumstances which made him adapt his ac¬ 
tion, in every case, to the conditions present at the 
time. But did he rely on the material means here? 
I do not think so. Why he uses the clay is a ques¬ 
tion which cannot be answered conclusively, although 
there are plenty of surmises which might be offered. 
Then again, the man was told to go and wash in the 
pool of Siloam. Was it essential to his recovery that 

Hohn iv. 46-54. 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 247 


he should go to this pool and wash? Was the water 
supposed to have any healing powers? These ques¬ 
tions remain unanswered. 

As it seems to me, Jesus, in telling the man to go 
and wash in the pool, was simply giving him something 
to do. Here was something that the man himself 
might do and thus perhaps his faith in the healing 
be quickened. Even in the anointing of the man’s 
eyes with the clay, Jesus might have seen that the 
healing would mean more to him if accompanied by 
some material means, for it is apparent that Jesus read 
the mind of the person with whom he was dealing. 
He would know above all others, that to some, often¬ 
times, help must come gradually, because their faith 
is weak. We notice this with many persons to-day 
whose belief in materiality is stronger than their belief 
in spiritual truths. Frequently in the performance of 
Jesus’ so-called miracles there was something to be 
done by the one who was healed. The ten lepers who 
were healed were told to go show themselves to the 
priests. Certainly the mere showing of themselves to 
the priests contained no remedial advantages, but this, 
as I see it, was simply something for them to do, some¬ 
thing to quicken or stimulate their faith. And so in 
this case there was given something for this blind man 
to do, and he went and did as he was told, and came 
away seeing. 


248 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

As we have said elsewhere, Jesus does not put him¬ 
self forward as if he did the work, rather he plainly 
shows that the healing is accomplished through the 
person’s own faith working in connection with God. 
Jesus opens the way, allowing the person concerned 
to do the work, yet always with the help of God the 
Father. When he healed the two blind men he merely 
said, “According to your faith be it unto you ”; ‘ and 
again he said, “The Father that dwelleth in me, He 
doeth the works” ’ 

The next incident in this intensely dramatic story is 
the most natural in the world. As soon as the healing 
of the blind man became known his neighbors began 
to talk about it. 

“ The neighbors therefore, and they which before 
had seen him that he was blind, said. Is not this he 
that sat and begged ? 

“ Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: 
but he said, I am he. 

“ Therefore said they unto him, How were thine 
eyes opened ? 

“ He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus 
made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, 
Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and 
washed, and I received sight. 

“ Then said they unto him. Where is he ? He said, 
I know not.” 


‘Matt. ix. 29. 


’John xiv. 10. 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 249 

A simple narrative, told just as the man himself 
saw and understood the event. But he did not know 
where Jesus was. He had left him and gone to the 
pool and bathed his eyes and in the marvel of his re¬ 
covery he had lost sight of Jesus. The people it seems 
were divided in their opinions concerning this man. 
That which had happened was beyond their compre¬ 
hension. The matter must be looked into. So they 
brought him to the authorities, and that is the next in¬ 
cident in the tale. 

“ They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime 
was blind. 

‘‘ And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the 
clay, and opened his eyes. 

“ Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he 
had received his sight. He said unto them. He put 
clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.” 

His words are few and straight to the point; there 
are no elaborations and yet all the essentials of the 
case are there. Indeed, the marvelous simplicity of 
this whole story constitutes its chief literary beauty. 

A man horn blind had received his sight! One 
would naturally suppose that that would have been the 
salient and most considered point in the event. But 
human nature, then as always, is prone to all sorts of 
vagaries. With the Pharisees, the healing was not 
the important fact, but in connection with that healing 


250 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


was a little incident which they magnified into vast 
importance, for they say: 

V 

“ This man is not of God, because he keepeth not 
the Sabbath day.” 

As we may hold a coin before one eye and shut out 
the bright light of the sun with all its magnificence 
and glory, so these men in their narrowness held this 
one minor item in their minds to the exclusion of the 
great good that had been done. They judge from 
their own little point of view, and shutting out the 
recognition of the good, they instead bring in a recog¬ 
nition of evil. And so does the whole human race 
often thus see the evil, and examining that, although 
the good is right there close at hand, they pass it by 
without recognition. In this instance the Pharisees 
see at once a chance for condemnation. “ He does 
not keep the Sabbath day.” That was one of the ten 
commandments. So this is of serious importance to 
them and they therefore immediately conclude that 
there cannot be any good in this man because he has 
broken the Sabbath. 

“ Others said. How can a man that is a sinner do 
such miracles ? And there was a division among 
them.” 

Evil is always divided, always of various opinions. 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 251 


this one, that one, and the other one. So they ques¬ 
tion the man: 

‘‘ They say unto the blind man again. What sayest 
thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He 
said. He is a prophet.” 

He answered from his simplicity, according to the 
common idea of the day, a day when prophets were 
extolled and were held up to admiration by the whole 
Jewish world as the example for conduct. Brought 
up as a Jew this was the best this Jew could say of 
Jesus, “ He is a prophet.” And we cannot find much 
fault with him that here in the first exuberance of feel¬ 
ing because he had received the blessing of sight, he 
puts this man on the highest Jewish height. 

'' But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that 
he had been blind, and received his sight” 

How impossible it is for evil or error to believe the 
truth! Indeed, the very existence of error depends on 
not believing the truth, for, when the truth is recog¬ 
nized untruth disappears; it no longer is. So they 
continued their investigation by calling upon the par¬ 
ents of this man. 

And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, 
who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now 
see?' 


252 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


His parents answered them and said, We know 
that this is our son, and that he was born blind: 

“ But by what means he now seeth, we know not; 
or who hath opened his eyes, we know not; he is of 
age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. 

These words spake his parents, because they feared 
the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any 
man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put 
out of the synagogue. 

Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.” 

Not much moral courage to be sure. Yet how many 
of us might shrink from public opinion or might flinch 
from the scorn and contempt of those in authority. 
These people did not want to get into trouble with 
the authorities; they preferred their son to speak for 
himself, thus placing the responsibility on him. This 
is not at all surprising when we realize how men are 
constituted to-day, and how they have been constituted 
all through the ages. But the Pharisees were con¬ 
fronted with an unexpected result of their skepticism. 
'They had established all the more firmly the fact that 
this man was the same man who had sat by the road¬ 
side begging; the same man who had been blind from 
his birth, yet who could now see. They were thus 
in as great a quandary as before. 

** Then again called they the man that was blind, 
and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that 
this man is a sinner.” 


' HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 253 


Give God the praise''; or, following the Greek 
more closely we might say, '' Give the glory to God.^' 
And that is right, give to God the praise for every¬ 
thing that is good, however little we may recognize him 
through whom God works, for all good is most cer¬ 
tainly from Him. But they would not let it rest there; 
if they had, the story would have been different. They 
add, “We know that this man is a sinner.*' And how 
frequently this is the case! How often when a good 
deed has been accomplished there arises in the minds 
of the people in whose presence the deed has been mani¬ 
fested, the idea, “ Why, how can this thing be ? This 
man is a sinner "! In spite of the good he may have 
done, his enemies condemn him, and try to blacken his 
character before the world. But the man born blind 
resented that and he answered them: 

“ Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one 
thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." 

He has expressed this repeatedly and was probably 
weary of this continual questioning and of being 
harassed by these men who were so unbelieving. Yet 
again they question him: 

“ What did he to thee ? how opened he thine eyes ? 

“ He answered them, I have told you already, and 
ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? 
will ye also be his disciples ? " 


254 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Or, as in the Revised Version, “ Would ye also be¬ 
come his disciples ?'' Ah, there was a sting in that, 
and they so recognize it. 

“ Then they reviled him, and said. Thou art his 
disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. 

“We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this 
fellow, we know not from whence he is." 

The man was irritated beyond his self-control, yet 
he answered them with logic that would have con¬ 
vinced any faii>minded person. But these men were 
not fair-minded. They were not seeking for the truth 
but merely for something which should condemn Jesus. 

“ The man answered and said unto them. Why 
herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from 
whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. 

“ Now we know that God heareth not sinners; but 
if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His 
will, him He heareth. 

“ Since the world began was it not heard that any 
man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 

“If this man were not of God, he could do nothing." 

These are splendid statements and they ring with the 
truth. Here was a moral courage such as was not de¬ 
veloped in the man's parents. He was indeed equal 
to the occasion, and his words must have carried abso¬ 
lute conviction if these men had only stopped for an 
instant to think, but they were so enveloped in error 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 255 


that it was impossible for them to perceive the truth. 
Indeed it is very evident that they wished for no opin¬ 
ion other than their own. They were filled with envy 
and jealousy, and they were possessed with the idea 
that this man Jesus must be put down at all hazards. 
We know how they had been persecuting him for 
months past and how they had sought his destruction 
but recently at the feast. They were blind, self- 
blinded, by their own wrong thoughts and beliefs, their 
own wrong acts. They had put out their own eyes, 
so to speak, so that they could not see even the plainest 
truths. And it is frequently so, that men having made 
up their minds, having decided the question before¬ 
hand, are thus so prejudiced, so fixed in their own 
opinions that they are unable to change to any other 
point of view. Listen to their reply: 

Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou 
teach us ? ” 

These proud teachers of the people to be taught by 
this blind beggar? No! They could not stand that 
and they cast him out.‘ To be cast out of the syna¬ 
gogue was in that day of vastly greater significance 
than we may now realize. It meant virtually becom¬ 
ing a social outcast. He was disgraced; was almost 
outside of the law. The man had received his sight, 
^ Or, “ They excommunicated him.” 


256 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

but he had been rejected, even disowned, by his own 
people for defending the man that healed him. His 
fate would seem to mark the end of the story. 

Jesus had disappeared since the man left him to go 
wash in the pool. The two became separated at that 
time and the man did not know where Jesus was. But 
this thing had startled the whole community; every¬ 
body knew about it. And now that the man has 
reached the lowest point by being thrust down as far 
as the people can thrust him, Jesus appears again; as 
we frequently find him doing when most needed. 
There was one sheep of the fold in trouble and Jesus 
went in search of him. The story continuing says: 

‘‘ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when 
he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou be¬ 
lieve on the Son of God ?' 

He answered and said. Who is he, Lord, that I 
might believe on him ? 

“ And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen 
him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 

And he said. Lord, I believe. And he worshipped 
him.” * 

This ends the story, so far as the story itself goes, 
but there is one point in connection with it to which 

* “ Many ancient authorities read, ‘ the Son of manf ” R. V. 
Margin. 

*“And he threw himself prostrate before him,” is a closer 
rendering of the Greek. 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 257 


I wish to refer. History tells us that the man and 
his family got into trouble, that difficulties and dis¬ 
grace came to them. Some might say these came to 
them because of the healing of the blind man. Thus 
some might say that the good had produced evil. Had 
it? Let us see. The evil was there clearly enough, 
but where did it come from? If there had been no 
evil, no error in the minds of these Pharisees, if they 
had been good men and ready to seek the good, what 
would have been the result? The result would have 
been rejoicing over the fact that a sufferer had been 
healed. There would have been great gladness that 
this man who had not seen the light of day for all his 
years had now received his sight. Thus there would 
have been no attempt to cast disgrace upon him. It 
was not from the good that was done that the evil 
came, but it was from the evil in those who did the 
evil; all the difficulties arose from the error in the 
minds of those who cast out the man whom Jesus had 
healed. The evil tree brings forth evil results and the 
good tree brings forth good results every time. The 
teaching of Jesus, the acts of Jesus, brought forth only 
good results. The evil was caused by the error, or 
ignorance, if you prefer, of those who did not per¬ 
ceive the good and who would not believe in the truth. 
And so we have the enigmatical words of Jesus which 
follow: 


258 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ For judgment I am come into this world, that 
they which see not might see; and that they which 
see might be made blind.’' 

Which as I understand them mean: “ I came to judge 
between the good and the evil; to uncover the spiritual 
vision to those who see not the truth, so that they 
may become even as the blind, so far as seeing sin and 
wrong are concerned.” 

And some of the Pharisees which were with him 
heard these words, and said unto him. Are we blind 
also? 

Jesus said unto them. If ye were blind, ye should 
have no sin: but now ye say. We see; therefore your 
sin remaineth.” 

That is: “If you were blind in the sense that I 
mean, you would be without sin, but because of the 
sight you claim to possess your sins remain with you.” 
Self-blinded these men were, as I have said. And 
this was the judgment which Jesus came to render. 
He came to give physical sight to the blind as wdl as 
spiritual sight to those who were blind to the truth. 
The man by the roadside was healed of his physical 
blindness, and here were these others who claimed to 
see, yet saw not. Jesus wished to heal their blindness 
and to open their eyes to the spiritual vision. When 
we are in the wrong the first step towards the right is 


HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND 259 


for us to realize that we are in the wrong. That is 
the first step towards the correction of the error, and 
that was Jesus’ mission; to open the eyes of those who 
saw not, whether figuratively, or literally, as in the 
case of this beggar-man who received the physical 
sight. 

You remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on 
the Mount, If the light that is in thee be darkness, 
how great is that darkness.” The light which these 
Pharisees claimed to be light, the light by which they 
claimed to see, in reality was blindness, darkness. And 
it was Jesus’ supreme wish or desire that they might 
receive their spiritual sight. If they had but realized 
their own errors, then would they, like this blind man, 
have become defenders of the truth. Their spiritual 
eyes, even as his, might have been opened, so that they 
might see and understand, might believe in the Son of 
God. 

“If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now 
ye say. We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” Or, 
“If you were willing to admit your blindness, there 
would be some hope for you. But as long as you 
think you see and so assert, your sin remains.” It 
was just as Jesus said; their sin remained with them 
because they would not open their eyes to recognize it 
as sin, but instead claimed it to be the truth. Thus 
through prejudice, we blind our own eyes to the truth 


260 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


and we claim that we see the truth when it is only 
evil or error that we see. But Jesus the Christ is even 
to-day, through his word, opening the eyes of the blind, 
causing them to see the light. 


XVIII 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 
(John X. 1-21) 

The parable of the Good Shepherd seems to be the 
best-known of all the parables of Jesus, and probably 
is the one most liked, with the parable of the Prodigal 
Son following closely in popularity. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not 
by the door into the sheep fold, but climbeth up some 
other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 

“ But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd 
of the sheep. 

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his 
voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and lead- 
eth them out. 

“ And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth 
before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know 
his voice. 

‘‘ And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee 
from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 

This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they un¬ 
derstood not what things they were which he spake 
unto them.” 

This parable is indeed beautiful from a literary 

standpoint, but it is far more than that, because the 

261 


262 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


story which it tells is most instructive and contains 
many great truths. We have in mind a picture of the 
Judean sheep fold as it was in that day,—probably a 
selected spot on a sunny hillside, secured by a fence 
of rocks, rude, but still a defense from the ravages 
of wild animals, with its entrance securely fastened. 
It was the place of safety; the place of security. We 
may say that the story describes God’s kingdom; the 
kingdom of truth and rightness, of peace and joy and 
love; for I think that is the interpretation of this para¬ 
ble of Jesus. The “ sheepfold ” means God’s own 
place, the kingdom of heaven; and “ the door” is the 
entrance into that kingdom, and there is but one door. 
We are all seeking entrance there. The entire human 
race is striving to find this door, each individual in 
his own way, in the way he thinks is right. Jesus al¬ 
luded to this a long time before, in the Sermon on the 
Mount, when he grouped all ways into two: one, the 
broad way, that leadeth to destruction ”; the other, 
the strait and narrow way, which is the way of truth 
and rightness, and “ which leadeth unto life.” 

‘‘ He that entereth not by the door into the sheep- 
fold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a 
thief and a robber.” 

He who tries to get into the fold under false pre¬ 
tenses, who tries to possess that which, through his 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 


263 


own wrongdoing, he is not entitled to, is here likened 
to a thief and a robber. But notice he does not say 
that he that climbeth up some other way gains en¬ 
trance ; he merely states that he climbeth up some other 
way. That which he is seeking for,—entrance into 
the sheepfold,—he does not attain. It is only by the 
strait and narrow way of truth that we enter in there. 
We may pursue the broad way, the way of sin and 
error as much as we please, but it does not lead to the 
inside of the sheep fold. Evil, however we may look 
upon it now, culminates at last in disaster and defeat, 
at the final analysis returning to its own nothingness. 
Thus our thoughts about evil, calling it truth and 
thinking it truth, do not make it truth, any more than 
our erroneous thoughts about God change Him. Er¬ 
ror always continues to be error. And so, according 
to that other metaphor of Jesus in the Sermon on the 
Mount, the evil tree does not bring forth good fruit. 
Only the good tree brings forth good fruit. It is the 
same doctrine that we have here in this parable of 
the Good Shepherd. 

The strait and narrow way seems strait and narrow 
to us because of our recognition of our sins and errors 
or mistakes, because of the prohibition which we see 
in everything about us as the result of these very sins 
and errors, also because of the continuous admonition 
of that inner conscience residing in each of us, which 


264 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


each one of us recognizes. For it is true that when¬ 
ever we start in the way of wrongdoing, whatever 
may be our determination, whatever may be our rea¬ 
soning, or whatever may be our ignorance, we hear 
the '' still, small voice '' of our conscience proclaiming. 
Thou shall not.” This voice speaks to each one who 
enters the way of sin. Though often imperfectly rec¬ 
ognized, it never fails. 

“ But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd 
of the sheep.’' 

He that followeth the narrow way, he that entereth 
in by the door, is the shepherd of the sheep. Whoever 
enters the sheepfold by the door, is a shepherd of the 
sheep. (The article “ a ” is closer to the original 
Greek than the.”) Whoever discovers the truth and 
lives it, is a shepherd of the sheep, just by reason of 
that. And though we have many teachers and leaders 
in the way of truth, yet even with all the help they may 
give us, it is the recognition of the truth in the heart 
of each individual which that individual must ulti¬ 
mately follow. It is that only which makes him the 
true shepherd. 

“To him the porter openeth.” 

Here we have the figure of the one on the inside of 
the door, guarding it against all comers except those. 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 


265 


who are entitled to enter. The doorkeeper opens the 
door to the shepherd and the shepherd enters in by 
virtue of his recognition of the truth. Therefore, who¬ 
ever is true, whoever stands in the truth, or lives the 
truth, enters in, for to him the porter openeth. 

“And the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his 
own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 

“ And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he 
goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they 
know his voice.’’ 

The sheep hear his voice and they recognize it. 
“And he calleth his own sheep by name.” We may 
lose much of the finer meaning of this story unless 
we know something of the customs of that time and 
of that country. The flocks in that country are not 
so large but that in many cases the shepherd knows 
the sheep individually and gives them names to which 
they answer. Bonar gives a beautiful picture of the 
Judean shepherd and his sheep: “We see a flock of 
perhaps threescore black and white sheep returning 
from the hillside where they have been grazing, or 
from the caves in which they have been sheltered from 
the noon-heat. Before them slowly walks the shep¬ 
herd, staff in hand, not once looking behind him. The 
flock follows quietly, not scattering nor needing the 
rod or the angry shout. He and they seem to know 


266 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

each other well, and to have mutual confidence. He 
who wrote the twenty-third Psalm must have known 
scenes like this; and still more he who said, ‘ When 
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before 
them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his 
voice.* ** 

The shepherd does not drive the sheep out. He 
leadeth them out. No compulsion, no dictation, no 
domination; that was the way of the Judean shepherd 
with his sheep in those days, and it is still the same 
to-day. The sheep are trained to know the voice of 
the shepherd and there is no need of driving them. 
The way of the world to-day is to drive men to good¬ 
ness, to drive them to right-doing, and right-living. 
The law of to-day is the law of compulsion. But the 
law of the Judean shepherd over his sheep was the 
law of love. And that law to which they responded 
is the same law of love that the Father holds over us. 
Jesus says in another place, ‘‘No man can come to me, 
except the Father which hath sent me draw him.** No 
driving nor forcing in this, simply a drawing unto 
Himself. It is the call of love, but it is a love beyond 
anything which we have yet imagined or had recogni¬ 
tion of. A love, the height and depth of which is be¬ 
yond our fathoming, beyond our interpretation, though 
we come the nearest to it when we say that “ God is 
Love.** 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 


267 


‘‘ And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee 
from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” 

In the morning the shepherd opens the door of the 
sheep fold and leads the sheep out to the selected place 
where the best grass is, and they stay there until the 
time comes for water. That is a thirsty land, for 
water is not very plentiful. Wells are provided, and 
the sheep are led from the pastures to the well. Each 
shepherd leads his own flock, always going before, 
always encouraging the sheep by his voice, but always 
leading them. And when they get to the well, per¬ 
haps other flocks are there before them, and they speak 
to their sheep and the sheep lie down, patiently waiting 
in little groups until their turn comes, when their shep¬ 
herd goes to the well and fills the trough and calls his 
sheep. It makes no difference how many flocks may 
be waiting there; each flock knows the voice of its own 
shepherd and his alone, and answers to his call and 
to none other. When they have been furnished with 
the water, the shepherd leads them away, perhaps to 
the same pasture, perhaps to another. 

‘‘ This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they un¬ 
derstood not what things they were which he spake 
unto them. 

“ Then said Jesus unto them again,' Verily, verily, I 
say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.” 


268 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Jesus here is referring to the spiritual being of him¬ 
self, to the Christ within. Through the consciousness 
of truth, in Jesus and in each child of God, does the 
Christ shine forth. When Jesus says, “ I am the door 
of the sheep,” he means that he, the Christ, is the door 
of understanding through which the sheep must enter 
to gain knowledge of the truth. And the sheep that 
hear the voice of the shepherd and that follow him, 
are the ones who enter into the safety of the sheep- 
fold. For the voice of the shepherd is the voice of 
truth, the voice which has been sounding throughout 
the ages, sometimes low, and sometimes loud and 
strong, yet always calling, calling the sheep to enter 
into the fold. And in a figurative way we may say 
that he who is now a shepherd or leader of the sheep 
has himself been at one time or another even as they, 
for I think that Jesus meant that the good sheep would 
in time come to be leaders themselves and teachers of 
the truth. 

All that ever came before me are thieves and rob¬ 
bers: but the sheep did not hear them.” 

Here Jesus seems to speak with the utmost egotism, 
and yet, he is not egotistical in the slightest degree. 
Benjamin Wilson says, ** Our Saviour cannot here 
mean Moses and the prophets, who were commissioned 
to speak in the name of Jehovah; but rather those re- 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 


269 


ligious leaders who ‘ shut up the kingdom of heaven 
against men/ by taking away the ' key of knowledge.* 
(See Matt, xxiii. 13; Luke xi. 52.) Such were the 
priests, scribes, and Pharisees.** But how can we thus 
limit the sweeping statement, “All that ever came be¬ 
fore me are thieves and robbers ’*? If we look at the 
original Greek we find no word for “ ever.** The 
Revised Version properly omits “ ever.** Further, if 
Jesus had had the remote past in mind, would he not 
have said, “All that ever came before me were thieves 
and robbers ** ? But the word is “ are/’ “As many as 
came before me are thieves and robbers.’* ^ He is 
doubtless referring to the immediate past. This is the 
view of Bengel.' 

“ But the sheep did not hear them.** In other words 
we may say: Those who came before me are like 
those thieves and robbers who tried to enter the sheep- 
fold, not by the door, but by climbing up “ some other 
way,*’ but, “ the sheep did not hear them’’ or, they 
paid no attention to them. 

“I am the door: by (or through) me if any man 
enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and 
find pasture.** 

We have been accustomed to attach to the word 

^ This may also be translated, “ Many who came before me.” 

’ Gnomon of the New Testament. 


270 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

‘‘ saved ” the strict theological meaning with which we 
have been.brought up from our childhood, yet it merely 
means to ‘‘ keep sound ” or “ safe/’ And that is the 
purpose of the sheepfold, to keep the sheep safe. 

“ And shall go in and out and find pasture.” We 
have said that the sheep fold symbolizes the realm of 
truth; that the way to the door of the fold is strait 
and narrow, and closely hedged in by prohibition be¬ 
cause of the fact that evil is so apparent on every side. 
The storm-tossed mariner on the ocean seeing the 
north star can set his course by that. We, too, may 
see but one lone star of truth ahead, yet that is enough 
if we will but follow that. Thus we need at the start 
but one single recognition of truth, and having that, 
we shall go onward to the discovery of more and 
greater truths. If we but follow one item of truth, 
and follow that faithfully, we are led towards all the 
rest. Having entered into the recognition of even one 
truth, we have progressed by just that much towards 
the realization of all truth. 

We cannot by any possibility imagine a prohibition 
with regard to that which is wholly good. If it is 
good, there can be no limitation. And having reached 
the truth along this seemingly narrow way, and hav¬ 
ing entered in, all else disappears from view except 
God and His goodness and His creation, which He 
said was very good/* There is no prohibition of 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 


271 


any sort whatsoever in the truth, but we go in and out 
and find pasture everywhere, as we choose, and with 
absolute freedom. The whole limitless universe is be¬ 
fore us; is open for our pasture, for our sustenance, 
for our most exceeding joy. 

‘‘ The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, 
and to destroy: I am come that they might have life,' 
and that they might have it more abundantly.” 

The word '' life ” in this place is a translation of the 
Greek word zoe, meaning the spiritual life, which is 
eternal, and in which there is no imperfection and can 
be no imperfection whatever. “ I am come that they 
might have life, and might have it more abundantly.” 
Or, as in the Revised Version, including Margin, “ I 
came that they may have life, and may have abun¬ 
dance.” We shall have abundance because, having 
entered into the recognition of truth we shall enter 
into all the glories of God's infinite creation by virtue 
of our inheritance from Him. As Jesus said in the 
Sermon on the Mount: “ Seek ye first the kingdom of 
God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall 
be added unto you.” The one great thing is to seek 

*The Greek word for “life” here,— zoe ,—is regularly used by 
Jesus to denote spiritual life. Another word,— psyche ,—is used 
by him to signify material existence. For example, in John xii. 
25 the word “ life ” occurs three times, The Greek word in the 
first two instances is psyche and in the last instance is zoe. For 
an exhaustive study of Jesus’ use of these two words see A 
Search After Ultimate Truth. Appendix O, Section 371. 


272 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

for the kingdom of God and to seek to be right, and 
then all other things shall come to us without our 
seeking them; they shall be added unto us. And re¬ 
member, that the word life ” here, stands for the 
eternal, never-ending, spiritual life of man which Jesus 
spoke of as the kingdom of God within you/* He 
never lost sight of the fact that within each person 
dwells the spirit of truth; in the inner temple of each 
and every being, there is God’s kingdom. 

“ I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth 
(layeth down—R. V.) his life for the sheep.” 

The word that is translated ‘‘ life ” in this place is 
not the same word as is translated “ life ” in the verse 
just discussed. The life that Jesus speaks of here is 
the physical or human life, that which can be laid down 
or terminated, in other words the life which can die.” 
In verse ten, “ life ” is the Greek word 2 oe, but in verse 
eleven is the word psuche or psyche. Jesus uses the 
word zoe to indicate the life that does not end, the 
spiritual life; and psyche when referring to the ma¬ 
terial life, or that life which can be ended. Never, 
according to his teaching, can we part with that spir¬ 
itual existence which is ourselves, our own being, the 
real you and 7. 

“ But he that is an hireling (hired servant), and not 
the (a—R. V.) shepherd, whose own the sheep are 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 


273 


not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and 
fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the 
sheep. 

“ The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and 
careth not for the sheep.'' 

The hireling, not being a shepherd and having no 
interest in the sheep because they do not belong to him, 
flees when he sees the wolf approaching. The hireling 
fled because he was an hireling and cared not for the 
sheep, but left them to be caught and scattered by evil 
forces. Remember that memorable night after the 
scene in the Garden and after the arrest of Jesus, when 
every one, even the enthusiastic Peter deserted him. 
They had not advanced beyond the stage of the hire¬ 
ling. They had been following their Master's direc¬ 
tions but had not attained to the unselfish devotion 
of the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. 
When left to their own resources they thought only 
of their own safety. The wolf had come and they 
fled, and there was not one left. 

** I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and 
am known of mine. 

** As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the 
Father: and I lay down my life {psyche or material 
life) for the sheep.'’ 

The Revised Version of these two verses gives us a 
different thought and renders the words in one con- 


274 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

nected sentence thus: “I am the good shepherd; and 
I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as 
the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and 
I lay down my life for the sheep/^ Jesus knows his 
sheep as intimately as the Father knows him. 

In that wonderful seventeenth chapter of this Gos¬ 
pel, he said to the Father, *'A11 mine are Thine, and 
Thine are mine.” Jesus knew the true, spiritual being 
which is of God, and which is the real being, and he 
said just a short time after he spoke this parable, ‘'And 
I give imto them eternal life; and they shall never 
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
hand.” There may seem to be failure and disappoint¬ 
ment in reaching the sheepfold but somewhere, some¬ 
time, we are certain of reaching the fold, for nothing 
that is of God can ever be lost. And we know, be¬ 
cause the teaching of Jesus is true, that there is that 
in every man which is of God. Indeed Jesus ex¬ 
presses this idea in the very next verse: 

“ And other sheep I have, which are not of this 
fold: them also I must bring (lead—R. V. Margin), 
and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one 
fold (flock), and one shepherd.” 

“ They shall hear my voice; and there shall be one 
flock, and one shepherd/* In the Revised Version the 
second “ fold ” is translated “ flock,” and that seems 


THE GOOD SHEPHERD 


275 


to be the better word for our meaning at the close of 
this story, because the thought of separate enclosures 
or indeed of any enclosure at all has passed away in 
the infinite freedom of God’s universe. It is evident 
that Jesus means here that the time is coming when 
all shall have listened to his voice and when there will 
be but the one flock and the one Shepherd, all follow¬ 
ing this one Shepherd, which is God. 

“ Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay 
down my life, that I may take it again. 

“No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down 
of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have 
power to take it again. This commandment received 
I from my Father.” ^ 

These are wonderful words! Jesus recognized his 
power to lay down his life and to take it up again and 
through this he recognized also the great love of the 
Father for him. He laid down his life that the world 
might learn the lesson of immortality, and after the 
crucifixion he took it up again and proved that death 
is not death; that it is not what it appears to be. His 
closing words here are, “ This commandment I re¬ 
ceived from my Father,” and we remember that only 
a short time before this, he had said, “ I came, not 
to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent 

^The Revised Version is given for verses scvent€en and 
eighteen. 


276 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

me.*’ He searched for the commandments of God 
and followed them; he studied the will of the Father 
and followed that at all times. He could well say. 
Therefore doth the Father love me.** And it re¬ 
mains for each one of us to walk in the way that Jesus 
did, to follow his teachings, and receive the infinite 
blessing of God. 

But again there was a division among the people 
because of the sayings of Jesus. Some believed that 
he was mad and possessed of a demon, but others 
said, “ These are not the sayings of one possessed with 
a devil (or demon). Can a demon open the eyes of 
the blind ? *’ * 


^Revised Version and Margin. 


XIX 


I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
, (John X. 22-42) 

“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedica¬ 
tion, and it was winter. 

“ And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's 
porch." 

Some time had evidently elapsed between the time 
of the parable of the Good Shepherd, and that of our 
subject in this chapter, though the latter seems in part 
a continuation of it. Apparently it was fresh in Jesus' 
mind, and presumably among his listeners on this oc¬ 
casion were also some of those who had heard him at 
the time he uttered the parable itself. 

“ Then came the Jews round about him, and said 
unto him. How long dost thou make us to doubt ?' 
If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." 

As has already been stated, the word “ Christ," when 
used in the Gospels as spoken by the Jews, referred to 
their Messiah; the title was not used by them with 
the understanding that we give to it. The one who 
was expected by the Jews as a deliverer of Israel was 
not a redeemer of individuals or persons, but a na- 
’Or, “Hold us in suspense.” Revised Version. 

277 


278 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

tional redeemer, who should cast off the Roman yoke, 
set up the government of the nation in Jerusalem and 
restore again the kingdom to Israel. This was the 
idea that was in their minds when they came to Jesus 
with their questions; for this was the universal con¬ 
ception of the Jews in regard to a Messiah. We can 
easily see the great contrast between this idea in the 
minds of the Jews, and the thoughts that Jesus must 
have had in his own mind concerning his mission 
among them, and thus the extreme difficulty of answer¬ 
ing their questions to their satisfaction. If he had 
told them in plain language the truth regarding his 
mission, as we understand it from our study of his 
teaching, they would not have understood him, and 
would have immediately rejected him, for they had 
no such conception of the Messiah that was to come. 
This, perhaps, is one reason why his answers to these 
questions seem more or less abrupt and even vague 
at times; he knows they are not ready for a plain 
statement of the truth. And so he speaks to them as 
was his wont in parables or allegories. Jesus again 
answers them: 

“ I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I 
do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.” 

He had told them many times and in such a way 
that they might have understood if they had been more 


279 


I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 

receptive at the beginning of his teaching and had 
looked for proof of his assertions in his character and 
in the character of the things which he said and did. 
All these bore witness and had borne witness of him 
continually, particularly his acts of healing, or those 
works which we have called “ miracles.” And that is 
one of the peculiarities which we notice as we follow 
the course of his teaching; they believed not even the 
works, because the recognition of those works seemed 
to excite them to animosity and dispute, as in the case 
of the man born blind receiving his sight. So Jesus 
continues: 

‘‘ But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, 
as I said unto you.” 

Because ye are not of my sheep.” That is, they 
were not open to the recognition of the ideas which 
he was presenting, because they were followers of the 
then existent and powerful priesthood of the Jews. 
Their minds were so intent in that direction and so 
filled with themselves and their own thoughts that 
they saw and could see nothing else. Jesus resumes 
the imagery of the parable. 

“ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and 
they follow me: 

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall 
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of 
my hand.” 


280 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

A most impressive statement, but in this case as 
always when Jesus speaks thus, it is not of himself 
the person, the material man, that he is speaking, but 
of that inner spiritual self, the Christ, which he rep¬ 
resents in his own individuality, and which is one with 
God the Father. 

“ I give unto them eternal life.*’ It is the zoe or 
spiritual life to which Jesus is referring, the life that 
is without end, which continues forever and ever. We 
might say that Jesus* enemies were possessed of this life 
already, and that is very true. They did indeed possess 
eternal life, for it belongs by right to all of God’s chil¬ 
dren. But they were so immersed in falsity, in jeal¬ 
ousy, and in the erroneous thoughts connected with their 
own laws, that they had no recognition of Jesus’ real 
meaning, and it was for this reason that they did not 
appear to be his sheep. It was like the woman’s piece 
of silver, that, though still in existence, still there in 
her house and just as valuable as it had ever been, yet 
to her it was lok; and therefore, until she found it, it 
was of no use to her. Thus it was with these men. 
Not being aware of their real birthright, it was to 
them as if it did not exist. When Jesus says, “ I give 
unto them eternal life,” he means that he will show 
them the way of eternal life, that through their under¬ 
standing of the truth they shall come into recognition 
of the spiritual life and their relation to eternity. 


281 


I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 

“ And they shall never perish, neither shall any man 
pluck them out of my hand.’' 

And he gives a reason for this, became: 

“ My Father, which gave them me, is greater than 
all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fa¬ 
ther’s hand.” 

Jesus here expresses his recognition of the Father’s 
absolute power, of His transcendent supremacy over 
all. ‘‘My Father, which gave them me;” they were 
his because they were from or of the Father. In an¬ 
other place he says, “All things that the Father hath 
are mine.” In these statements is expressed the one¬ 
ness of Jesus the Christ with God and with all creation. 
“And no one is able to snatch them out of the Fa¬ 
ther’s hand,” is the rendering of the Revised Version. 
This shows that there is and can be no separation be¬ 
tween God and His children. And so it is that God 
keeps them, so it is that God holds them in the hollow 
of His own hand. And from all this we can but con¬ 
clude that God’s children possess the life eternal. They 
are immortal. Jesus then concludes these strong state¬ 
ments with that sublime declaration: 

“ I and my Father are one.” 

This is the great climax. That this statement stands 
here merely as the conclusion of all these wonderful 


282 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

statements has been overlooked because of the im¬ 
mensity of its suggestion. Men have been lost in won¬ 
der and amazement as they ponder its meaning, and 
not understanding it, they suggest all sorts of possible 
interpretations of it. The positiveness with which 
Jesus announces his divine origin and that of every 
created being, as if it were a matter about which there 
could be no possible doubt, has been lost sight of by 
mankind. If we study his words we shall find under¬ 
lying them the distinct recognition of the right of 
every man and the innate ability of every man to un¬ 
derstand the truth. As Jesus said to the multitude 
on one occasion, his words being also a keynote to his 
utterances elsewhere, ‘‘ Why even of yourselves judge 
ye not what is right? ” And more than once he said, 
‘‘ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear ”; thus ap¬ 
pealing to the perception, the understanding of man¬ 
kind. He appealed to the consciousness, the cognition, 
of every human being that each should, within himself, 
find the rule of procedure which is the rule of absolute 
right. And so here he says, I and the Father are 
one,'^ and he leaves the statement without further ex¬ 
planation for all to perceive and understand. He of¬ 
fered this, as he did so many of his great rules and 
precepts, without argument, without discussion beyond 
a mere illustration of his meaning, for men to per¬ 
ceive and accept as they accept an axiom. Truly 


I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 283 

“ He taught as one having authority and not as the 
scribes/’ 

I and the Father are one.” In the King James 
Version “my” is in italics, meaning that it was in¬ 
serted by the translators. I prefer the rendering of 
the Revised Version and believe that the article “ tlu ” 
expresses more accurately the meaning of Jesus. Jesus 
never arrogates to himself one thing that he does not 
concede to every other being. As he said in the seven¬ 
teenth chapter of this Gospel, at the termination of that 
most wonderful prayer where he intercedes for all that 
is good and right and best,—“ That the world may 
know that Thou hast loved them, as Thou hast loved 
me/' We do not forget that his experience transcends 
ours, but we remember also that one side of his char¬ 
acter presented the appearance of common humanity. 
Therefore we have the right with due care and rever¬ 
ence to examine ourselves and see if we find within our¬ 
selves something similar to that which was in him. 
Although we exalt him to the highest place because of 
his marvelous manifestation of divinity,—for he is 
the Son of God,—yet he taught us to say, "" Our Fa¬ 
ther/' And if we can truthfully say “ Our Father,” 
then we can say of Jesus the Christ, “ Our brother,” 
and we can say to God, “ Thy children.” And if all 
this be true, we can find within the deepest recesses of 
our beings, that which was like unto him, though it be 


284 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


not so gloriously shining, so splendidly manifested as 
it was in him. 

I and the Father are one” I should like to give 
an illustration of this idea of the ‘‘ oneness that Jesus 
referred to so much. It will be again referred to later 
on in this book when we take up the prayer of Jesus 
in the seventeenth chapter of John." There is the mys¬ 
tery of the thought and the thinker; there is the re¬ 
lationship of the thought to the thinker. The thought 
is in a way outside the thinker, a thing separate from 
him. And yet it is within the thinker, something which 
cannot be separated or divided from him. To be sure 
you may forget it, yet it is always there, and you may 
recover it by remembering. Here is a dual relation¬ 
ship between the thought and the thinker. It is at 
once a something separate and distinct from the thinker 
and yet at the same time inseparable from him, and 
indivisible from him. 

A thought recognized stands before our mind’s eye 
clear and distinct. It stands there as an identity, with 
an individuality of its own, separate and distinct from 
ourselves; separate and distinct from our own mind as 
we see it. But this is not all. We may communicate 
that thought to another. In materiality there is noth- 

*For a fuller discussion of this subject see A Search After 
Ultimate Truth; chapters XLVI and XI^VII, “The Universal 
Oneness,and “Jesus and the Oneness.” 


I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 


285 


ing to illustrate it. You may split off a piece from a 
stick of wood. You may attach it to another piece of 
wood, but it is still a split-off piece. Indeed you may 
attach it to the piece from which it was taken, it is 
still a distinct piece. But although you have commu¬ 
nicated your idea to your friend you have lost nothing. 
The thought has not itself been divided. The thought 
in either case is whole, complete, and distinct. There 
has been no separation or division of the thought. 

Let us, for example, suppose two people, called 
and ‘‘ B ” for convenience of designation. A has rec¬ 
ognized some thought. He perceives it, and he ex¬ 
presses it to B. B recognizes it as a something sepa¬ 
rate and distinct from A and yet also an integral part 
of A. It appeals to B as a correct and true idea and 
he accepts it. He receives it into his own mind, and 
it becomes just as distinct a part of B, as it still is and 
has been, a part of A. Then, so far as that thought 
is concerned, A and B are one. Literally, exactly, in 
the full meaning of the term, they are one. And not¬ 
withstanding that, A has lost none of his individuality. 
A is A just as much as he. was before, and it is the same 
with B. Each is as fully himself as he was before 
the interchange of thought. The process can be re¬ 
versed, B communicating his thought to A, and A per¬ 
ceiving and accepting it. The result is still the same. 
Neither has lost any individuality of his own. B is B 


286 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


and A is A. But still, so far as the thought is con¬ 
cerned, they are literally one. 

Turn now to him who manifested on this earth more 
of the divine attributes than any other being of whom 
we have ever heard, and perceive how it is that the 
Father and the Christ are one. Yet, the Father is the 
Father, the Christ is the Christ, each in His own in¬ 
dividuality, each in His own completeness, and yet, 
they are one. 

Jesus never said, “ I am the Father he never said, 
‘‘ I am God.” He always recognizes the Father as 
distinct from himself; he always recognizes the Father 
as the one to whom he owes all that he has, and all 
that he is. He and the Father are one; literally of one 
substance; divided, and yet not divided; one, and yet 
two. And so the statement: “ I and the Father are 
one,”—great as it is, becomes understandable. 

‘‘ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 

“ Jesus answered them, Many good works have I 
showed you from the Father; for which of those works 
do ye stone me ? 

“ The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work 
we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that 
thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” 

It is not surprising that they did not understand 
him. But here they made a great mistake; for Jesus 
did not make himself God. To my mind, this idea was 


287 


I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 

the farthest possible from any assumption or claim of 
his. We cannot find any place in all his words where 
he says that he is God. They simply did not and could 
not understand him. But, as he sometimes docs, he 
appeals to their knowledge of the scriptures, for he 
says: 

“ Is it not written in your law, I said. Ye are gods? 

‘‘If he called them gods, unto whom the word of 
God came, 

“ Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified,^ 
and sent into the world. Thou blasphemest; because I 
said, I am the (or aY Son of God? ’’ 

It is evident that Jesus in verse thirty-four is refer¬ 
ring to Psalm Ixxxii. 6 which reads: “ I have said. Ye 
are gods; and all of you are children of the most 
High.” In this place the word “ gods ” is used to 
designate judges of the nation. To the Jews in the 
earlier days, these judges were recognized as represen¬ 
tatives of God. They stood to the people in that crude 
time in the relationship of judges declaring the right 
as between man and man,® and thus representing God. 
And so the probable meaning of verse thirty-six is, 


^ Or “ consecrated ” in Revised Version, Margin. The original 
is from the same word as in the Lord's Prayer, “Hallowed be 
Thy name.” It means ” to make holy.” 

^ The article " a ” is nearer to the original than " the/* 

* Compare Exodus xxi. 6 and xxii. 9, especially the Revised 
Version. 


288 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

that if their scriptures called these men gods/’ the 
Jews could not rightly accuse Jesus of blasphemy in 
claiming to be a Son of God. Then he again refers 
to his works, and I believe he alludes not merely to the 
miracles he had done, but to his whole course and 
career: 

“If I do not the works of my Father, believe me 
not. 

“ But if I do them, though ye believe not me, be¬ 
lieve the works: that ye may know and understand that 
the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” ‘ 

Jesus here again alludes to the oneness of himself 
with the Father, yet showing by his words that they are 
two distinct entities: the Father and the Son. 

“ I and the Fatlier are one. He in me, and I in 
Him.” This is a most wonderful declaration and one 
with clearest meaning and without any mystery what¬ 
ever, if we will but perceive with an understanding 
mind the true relationship existing between God and 
all His creation. And this view does not detract one 
iota from the reverence and homage which we should 
render unto God. Neither does it prevent us from 
regarding Jesus the Christ in his true light, as the one 
man of all men who taught the truth. Nay, indeed, 
it makes clear why he is the one man of all men who 
taught the truth and only the truth. It shows why he 

* Verse thirty-eight is given according to the Revised Version. 


I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 


289 


is the one man whose teaching is without error; the 
one man whom we follow, and in following, know that 
we are pursuing the right way. It is because he was 
taught by the Father, because he was one with the 
Father,—the Father in him and he in the Father. 

“ Therefore * they sought again to take him.” 

They sought to arrest him, to take him prisoner. 
But do not make a mistake with regard to this word 
“ therefore.” They did not seek to take Jesus because 
of the truth he had told them, they sought to take him 
because of the evil existing in their own minds, and 
because of their own failure to understand the truth. 
It was not the good in him that made them take up 
stones to throw at him. It was the evil in themselves 
that occasioned that; evil is from evil always, and never 
from good. The good produces only good always. 

“ But he escaped out of their hand, 

** And went away again beyond Jordan into the place 
where John at first baptized; and there he abode. 

And many resorted unto him, and said, John did 
no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man 
were true. 

And many believed on him there.” 

^The Revised Version omits “therefore.” In the original it 
is bracketed, meaning, “ doubtful.” 


XX 


THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 
(John XL 1-44) 

John, in contrast to the writers of the other Gos¬ 
pels, does not record many miracles, but he gives mi¬ 
nute and detailed accounts of those which he does re¬ 
late. The story of the raising of Lazarus is more 
complete in its details than any other, though nearly 
as much space is devoted to the account of the man 
born blind. While the latter is closely connected with 
the incidents that followed, this one appears to be an 
episode complete in itself. We are introduced 
abruptly to the principal facts of the story. 

“ Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of 
Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.’* 

The story of Mary and Martha is one that has been 
told over and over again. Few characters are so in¬ 
teresting, so pleasing, so vividly portrayed, and yet so 
like people of to-day, as these two sisters with their 
contrasting characteristics. It is almost universally ac¬ 
cepted that their house was the one which Jesus was ac¬ 
customed to frequent when he was in Jerusalem. And 

it is also believed that in that last fateful week which 

290 



THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 


291 


he spent in Jerusalem, largely at the temple, his stop¬ 
ping-place at night was at their house. In the next 
verse we find a reference connecting Mary with other 
events. 

(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with 
ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose 
brother Lazarus was sick.) ” 

In the last account of Jesus we are told that he went 
away beyond Jordan and abode there for a time. It 
is presumed that that was where he was at this time. 

“ Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, 
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” 

We are here shown a glimpse of his intimacy with 
this family, and of his friendship with them. 

When Jesus heard that, he said. This sickness is 
not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son 
of God might be glorified thereby.” 

Let me say at the outset that I do not think that 
Jesus here referred to any possible personal glorifica¬ 
tion of himself. It is probable that he wished to show 
the people, particularly the members of this household 
whom he so loved, the powerlessness of death over 
life. It would seem that he wished to teach them how 
the Son of God may be glorified by rising above death 


292 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

and materiality into life eternal. If we accept the in¬ 
terpretation already referred to in regard to the ex¬ 
pression the ‘‘ Son of God'' as meaning the spiritual 
being in each child of God, and if we accept Jesus’ 
words regarding the relation of the Father and the 
Son and the oneness of the two, which he so plainly 
and positively asserted, we shall the more clearly un¬ 
derstand the meaning of this passage. Any other in¬ 
terpretation will be misleading and derogatory to the 
high character of Jesus. Thus the passage might read: 
“ This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of 
God, that the spiritual self, the Son of God, (and this 
might mean either Jesus or Lazarus) might triumph 
over death and be glorified thereby.” 

If this interpretation is not accepted we can but take 
the story in its ordinary meaning because the whole 
course of Jesus, as the story runs, would seem to in¬ 
dicate that he intentionally put off the healing of 
Lazarus in order to have the opportunity of doing the 
greater miracle. We know from the records that these 
sisters had sent for him in their distress and that in¬ 
stead of hastening to them, “ he abode two days still 
in the same place.” Why did he do this? We know 
surely that it was not because of any personal glorifi¬ 
cation of himself. We know, too, that he might have 
healed Lazarus from the place where he was, but he 
chose to wait, therefore we know that under all the 


THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 293 

circumstances his reason must have been a sufficient 
one, must have been a great one. 

j 

Jesus had talked much with the members of this 
little household, and it is not improbable that he may 
have hoped, after all his teaching of the truth to them, 
that the sisters themselves might be able to prevent the 
death of their brother. For they had listened to his 
teachings in the sacred circle of the family, where he 
could speak with a far greater freedom than he could 
use when addressing the multitude. And so he by 
thus waiting might wish to give them the chance of 
directing the healing themselves. We do not know; 
we can only surmise. 

Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and 
Lazarus.'' 

Nowhere are the relations of Jesus to this little 
family more beautifully expressed than in this one sen¬ 
tence. Somehow we love to dwell upon the picture 
of Jesus' friendship with this brother and sisters. We 
feel that it must have meant a great deal to him as 
well as to them, and we are deeply interested in every 
word concerning them. We remember how, in the 
first glimpse we have of this family, we find Mary 
sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to his teaching 
while Martha attended to the household affairs. And 
we remember how Martha, who was the elder sister 


294 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


of Mary and Lazarus, came to him complaining that 
her sister had left her to serve alone, and desiring that 
he bid Mary to help her with the work. And then 
Jesus’ reply to her, ‘‘ Martha, Martha, thou art care¬ 
ful and troubled about many things: but one thing is 
needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which 
shall not be taken away from her.” * Perhaps we have 
looked upon this as a sort of rebuke for Martha, and 
yet apparently Jesus had no partiality in his affection 
for the two sisters. He recognized the good in 
Martha, though some may go to the extent of saying 
that she manifested an over-zealousness in her cares 
for the things of this world. To continue the narra¬ 
tive: 

“ When Jesus had heard therefore that Lazarus was 
sick, he abode two days still in the same place where 
he was. 

‘‘ Then after that saith he to his disciples. Let us 
go into Judea again. 

“ His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of 
late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? 

Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the 
day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, 
because he seeth the light of this world. 

But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, be¬ 
cause there is no light in him.” 

There is a time for all things; there is the time for 

^ Luke X. 38-42. • 


THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 


295 


work, and there is the time for rest. Jesus made a 
similar statement when he met the man that was born 
blind, ‘‘ I must work the works of Him that sent me, 
while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can 
work.’* We must each do our work while the oppor¬ 
tunity is before us; while the necessity for it is present; 
not waiting for another occasion, but working ‘‘ while 
it is day,” while we have the chance to do the work. 
Opportunities do not repeat themselves, therefore em¬ 
brace the one that comes to you; do the thing that the 
hand finds to do now, not waiting for another or more 
opportune time. 

“ These things said he: and after that he saith unto 
them. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I 
may awake him out of sleep.” 

He speaks of death only to speak of life; and this 
I think is a peculiarity of his, speaking of death only 
that he may affirm life. I do not believe that Jesus 
ever recognized death as a reality; at least he never 
recognized it to the extent that we do. But while he 
recognized and understood our belief in it, I think he 
himself always saw through and beyond it to the life 
eternal; the life that never ceases and that never 
changes. His disciples, however, were evidently mis¬ 
led by his form of expression for they say to him: 


‘‘ Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.” 


296 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

The Revised Version renders this passage, ‘‘ Lord, 
if he is fallen asleep, he will recover ”; according to 
the external appearance of things, sleep is an indica¬ 
tion of an improved condition of the sick. 

“ Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought 
that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 

“ Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is 
dead. 

“ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, 
to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go 
unto him. 

‘‘ Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, 
(meaning “twin’') unto his fellow disciples. Let us 
also go, that we may die with him.” 

The occurrences of the past two weeks and their in¬ 
fluence upon the disciples are indicated by the above 
statement. Thomas by this remark, which expresses 
a sort of despair or hopelessness, shows that he recog¬ 
nized great danger for Jesus in returning to Judea 
from which they had but so recently come. And in 
that despair he says, “ Let us also go, that we may die 
with him.” Such a remark is frequently expressed by 
those who are so devoted to their friends that, for the 
sake of that friendship, they are willing to face even 
death. And so they go to the house of Lazarus and 
Martha and Mary. 

“ Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain 
in the grave four days already. 


THE KAISING OF LAZARUS 297 

‘‘Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about 
fifteen furlongs off: (that is, about two miles). 

‘‘ And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, 
to comfort them concerning their brother.'^ 

This household was evidently one of considerable 
wealth and distinction. And with them, as with the 
whole civilized world in these days, and with most of 
the barbarous nations as well, the funeral and the 
mourning and the ceremonials connected therewith, 
were most important and they were continued for a 
considerable time. This family was visited by the 
neighbors and by the friends and acquaintances, who 
came to offer sympathy and comfort in a time of sor¬ 
row just as they do now, in our own times. 

“ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was 
coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the 
house.'’ 

This is characteristic of Martha, for Martha was 
the active one, the one who was always doing things, 
bustling and busy. She goes to meet Jesus as soon as 
she hears that he is coming, bowed with grief, yet still 
looking to Jesus as the one who might help. Mary, 
with equal grief, perhaps even with a greater grief, 
sat still at home. And Martha greets him and says 
unto him: 

“ Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
died." 


298 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

This expression seems to have somewhat of reproach 
in it. The sisters of Lazarus had sent for Jesus sev¬ 
eral days previously. And while they knew nothing 
of the reasons for his not coming, they did know that 
there had been with them an interval of great anxiety 
■when he might have been there. And while this decla¬ 
ration seems to be filled with grief, it also implies gen¬ 
tle reproach. “ Lord, if thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not died.” And yet she adds: 

‘‘ But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt 
ask of God, God will give it thee.” 

If there was a tinge of reproach, there was also con¬ 
fidence mingled with hope. Here was the man who 
had taught them the greatest things they had ever 
known, who had led them above the level of the stand¬ 
ards of life and thought according to Jewish ideas, 
into the recognition of something more and greater. 
So to this man who had done these many wonderful 
things, Martha makes this remarkable statement, “ I 
know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of 
God, God will give it thee.” And in these words 
Martha expresses a marvelous faith, a faith that in 
its fullness might well conquer all things. 

‘‘ Jesus saith unto her. Thy brother shall rise again. 

Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise 
again in the resurrection at the last day.” 


THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 


299 


She comes back here pretty nearly to the mental 
position expressed in her first words: Lord, if thou 
hadst been here, my brother had not died.’' Now if 
Martha had had the faith that we would naturally infer 
from her own words as uttered in verse twenty-two; 
if she had herself believed in the truth of her own 
statement, it would seem that at least some element of 
rejoicing would have been apparent, but this appears 
entirely lacking when she now says, I know that he 
shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 
Perhaps it was but the natural vacillation of a mind 
whose loss was too recent, whose grief and suffering 
too deep, to manifest completely the faith which in 
her inmost heart she really felt. 

However, be that as it may, she in her last remark 
has given Jesus the opportunity to say the words which 
are the most sublime of all his utterances, words so 
majestic that they fill the mind with awe and yet so 
full of peace and comfort to all mankind that, during 
all the years since he first spoke them, we have clung 
to them in our hours of greatest trial. 

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and 
the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, 
yet shall he live: * 

‘‘And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
never die. Believest thou this ? ” 

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that be- 


300 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die.’* In one sense this glorious passage is the climax 
of the teaching of Jesus. It is a fit introduction to the 
scenes that follow later, at the resurrection and during 
the forty days when he walked the earth after his 
crucifixion. And if we unite with it the ideas but re¬ 
cently discussed,—the ideas which permeate all of 
Jesus’ teaching, regarding the relation of the Father 
and the Son and the oneness existing in that relation, 
—this then becomes a universal truth applying to all 
mankind. For all this does apply to each one of 
God’s children, setting forth that in each one as in 
Jesus is embodied the resurrection and the life. Thus 
life, though there be the appearance of death, continues 
to be life and that eternally. In other words, the 
reality of each individual, the real you, never dies. But 
poor Martha fails again to rise to the heights to which 
Jesus is inviting her, for: 


“ She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou 
art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come 
into the world. 

“ And when she had so said, she went her way, and 
called Mary her sister secretly, saying. The Master 
is come, and calleth for thee. 

“ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and 
came unto him. 


THE EAISING OF LAZARUS 


301 


“Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but 
was in that place where Martha met him. 

“ The Jews then which were with her in the house, 
and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she 
rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying. 
She goeth unto the grave to weep there/* 

Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, 
she fell down at his feet, in her grief and perhaps in 
her joy, too, at seeing him who had been so much to 
that little family. And from her lips escapes the same 
cry that had come from the lips of Martha: “ Lord, 
if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.** It 
was a sad scene as we picture it. Not only was Mary 
prostrate at his feet weeping, but the record says that 
the Jews who came with her were also weeping. And 
Jesus when he saw them weeping “ groaned in the 
spirit, and was troubled,*’ * and he said: 

“ Where have ye laid him ? They said unto him. 
Lord, come and see. 

“ Jesus wept.** 

The human side of the man was stirred as it seldom 
was in the whole of his career. His affectionate na¬ 
ture was touched with sympathy for these sisters and 
their friends and he wept, but the weeping was of a 

‘ The Revised Version, Margin, renders this: “ He was moved 
with indignation in the spirit, and troubled himself.” In an¬ 
other rendering we have: “ He was greatly agitated in his spirit, 
and affected.” Or, perhaps still closer to the Greek is, “ He was 
agitated in the spirit, and troubled himself.” 


302 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

different kind from theirs. In the original the words, 
Jesus wept ” mean simply, “ Jesus shed tears,” while 
in the preceding verses the verb is a different one, 
meaning mourn, lament, wail.” We realize that 
Jesus could hardly have wept because of the death of 
Lazarus when he had said, “ This sickness is not unto 
death,” and “ Thy brother shall rise again.” Rather 
we are led to believe that Jesus was so affected by the 
sisters’ grief that he shed tears, even though he knew 
that Lazarus was about to be restored to them. If 
Mary and Martha had shown less faith it might be 
possible to think that Jesus wept because of disappoint¬ 
ment at their failure to understand; but I think that 
they really showed a great deal of faith. They had 
faith in his power to prevent the death of Lazarus had 
he been there. They had faith that even now ” some¬ 
how Jesus would help them. Nowhere do they lose 
faith in him. They do not quite follow him, but they 
say, Yea, Lord” 

Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 

“ And some of them said, Could not this man, which 
opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this 
man should not have died ? 

“ Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh 
to the grave. It was a cave," and a stone lay upon it. 

Jesus said. Take ye away the stone.” 

^ Probably this word “ cave ” here means simply a place hewn 
out of the rock, after the manner of the tombs in common use 
in that day. 


THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 


303 


We may wonder why he said, Take ye away the 
stone/’ Twice before this according to the records, 
Jesus had restored the dead. And many times he had 
done things almost as marvelous. Could not he who 
had done those wonderful things roll away this stone 
also? But he told them to take away the stone. In 
the doing of every task there are always those portions 
which seem to be difficult and those which seem to be 
less so. Jesus raised the dead. They could not with 
their understanding. But they could roll away the 
stone. That was within their province, and it was 
best for them to do what they could towards the ac¬ 
complishment of the great result. 

We should do all we can by our own personal ef¬ 
forts towards the attainment of that which we desire. 
It is true that one of the very greatest of Jesus’ pre¬ 
cepts is, ''Ask, and it shall be given you.” " But that is 
followed directly by other precepts, " Seek, and ye shall 
find,” and " Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” 
Do not expect to receive without asking, or to find 
without seeking, or that doors will open without your 
knocking. Do your part. " For every one that asketh 
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that 
knocketh it shall be opened.” Thus there is always 
something for us to do, even though we may not ac¬ 
complish the greater things. If we do not have the 

^ Matt. vii. 7, 8. 


304 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


faith to achieve the supreme thing, if we ourselves 
have not the faith to ask of God and receive directly 
from Him, then it is for us to seek help through some 
one whose faith is stronger than our own. 

Martha with her care and attention to details, and 
her practical knowledge, then said unto Jesus, Lord, 
by this time he stinketh (smells is closer to the Greek) 
for he hath been dead four days.” This was a per¬ 
fectly natural thought, and yet how far she was from 
her own statement uttered when she first went to meet 
Jesus, “ But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou 
wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.” And yet we 
need not be surprised. Even if, at the time of utter¬ 
ing these words, she had had, as she must have had, 
some little glimpse of their wonderful import, there 
had been enough in the interval to distract her thoughts 
from the great spiritual truth which they implied. 
They had come again to the grave, and in company 
with all the others; the conditions around her have 
occupied her time, her thoughts, her mind, to the ex¬ 
clusion of all else. 

The calm and beautiful reply of Jesus to her is a 
wonderful indication of his gentleness, and yet there 
is a little touch of remonstrance in it, as he says unto 
her: 

Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, 
thou shouldest see the glory of God? 


THE RAISING OP LAZARUS 


305 


“ Then they took away the stone from the place 
where the dead was laid/' 

Here to me is the most impressive and solemn mo¬ 
ment in the whole story. There is no ceremony, no 
expenditure of time; there is no hesitation, no waiting; 
and there is no audible prayer, just a simple giving of 
thanks for something already received, for as the stone 
was rolled away: 

“Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said. Father, I thank 
Thee that Thou hast heard me. 

“ And I knew that Thou hearest me always: but 
because of the people which stand by I said it, that 
they may believe that Thou hast sent me." 

“ I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I 
knew that Thou hearest me always." Jesus had en¬ 
tered into the retired place of himself, and he had him¬ 
self done what he tells us to do,—“All things whatso¬ 
ever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received 
them, and ye shall have them." That marvelous state¬ 
ment is here fully exemplified. “ Believe that ye have 
received them, and ye shall have them.** Even unto 
the receiving of the dead back to life! 

“ And 1 knew that Thou hearest me always.** These 
words need no explanation, they speak for themselves; 
their meaning is plain and simple in the extreme. We 
recognize at once the absolute faith expressed in them. 


306 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


They show that Jesus' faith was without limitation. 
Indeed his faith was so complete that he realized no 
words were necessary, but he spoke them because of 
the people around him that they might believe in him 
and the truth which he was sent to teach. 

We are supremely thankful that the record of Jesus' 
words in these two verses has been preserved for us. 
They allow us to see into his method, into the way 
that he did his work, more than any other words in 
all the Gospels. And if with these words in mind we 
may picture to ourselves the scene, the tone of voice, 
the surroundings, and if with all this we can under¬ 
stand the other things he said which are more or less 
explanatory of these words, we shall come to a recogni¬ 
tion of him and his work that will be priceless. 

‘‘ And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a 
loud voice, Lazarus, come forth." 

Again we picture the scene, how they stood by the 
open tomb; darkness only in there, and no sound of 
any kind. It was as silent as it had been for all those 
four days past, as silent as when they rolled away the 
stone, and yet Jesus did not speak to a dead man; he 
spoke to a living man. He did not speak to death; 
he spoke to life. 

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and 
foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about 



THE EAISING OF LAZAKUS 


307 


with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, 

* and let him go.” 

It seems as if it could not have been otherwise. 
Jesus had complied with all the requirements; he had 
followed his own injunctions and had believed with¬ 
out a doubt in his heart. He had himself had that 
which he told us to have and which we may have,— 
the faith of God. For Jesus, in his great rule for 
prayer" says, Have the faith of God.” * And, “ Verily 
I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this moun¬ 
tain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall 
not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he 
saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. Therefore I 
say unto you. All things whatsoever ye pray and ask 
for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall 
have them.” * 

* For careful study, read Ask and Receive. 

’A marginal reading of the King James or Authorized Version 
for Mark xi. 22. 

^Mark xi. 23, 24. Revised Version. 


XXI 


THE PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 
(John XL 45-57; John XIL 1-19) 

It is now generally accepted that the Gospels were 
not written as stories or biographies, but as teachings, 
each one being written for tlie purpose of showing the 
truths which Jesus taught, and so varying one from 
another. The Book of John, the last one of the Gos¬ 
pels to be recorded, seems to have been written with 
the idea of supplying some things which were not in¬ 
cluded in the previous accounts, and also for the pur¬ 
pose, as we have seen, of emphasizing certain specific 
truths. So John omits much that is in the other 
Gospels. Perhaps we may say that his Gospel comes 
to more or less of a culmination in the miracle of the 
raising of Lazarus. From that time on, the narrative 
proceeds with great rapidity until the story of the Last 
Supper, which is given in great detail in this Gospel, 
containing much that is not included in the others. 
Here at the close of the story of the raising of Lazarus, 
we find immediate results stated by John. 

Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and 
had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. 

But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, 
and told them what things Jesus had done.’’ 

308 


PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 309 


The result of this news carried to the chief priests 
and Pharisees, was that a council was called, and the 
determination to get rid of Jesus deeply intensified. 
They had really followed his doings from the first, 
becoming more and more distrustful and antagonistic, 
and as we have found, at the last determined to find 
some way of disposing of him. This council is sup¬ 
posed to have been an irregular meeting of the San¬ 
hedrin. We have brief mention of the proceedings 
at that time, for instance: 

“ What do we ? for this man doeth many miracles. 

“If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on 
him: and the Romans shall come and take away both 
our place and nation.” 

The possibility that “ all men will believe in him ” 
seemed to them the lesser evil, though that was bad 
enough, but the idea that loomed largest in their minds 
was a purely political one, that “ the Romans will 
come and take away our place and nation.” The 
preservation of their own place and power was to them 
the most important consideration, and was one of the 
chief things which most blinded them to the teaching 
of Jesus, as we must always bear in mind. These men, 
you remember, thought that the Messiah who was to 
come was to set up a new kingdom of the Jews which 
should relieve them of all foreign oppression and which 
should reestablish the glory of David and of Solomon. 


310 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Hence this political view, which so obsessed them that 
they overlooked entirely the character of Jesus’ teach¬ 
ing. They recognized that all they had done thus 
far had availed nothing. This last great miracle was 
a work of wonder which was arousing the attention 
of all the people. Thus the conditions were getting 
serious; something must be done. 

“ And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high 
priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing 
at all, 

‘‘ Nor consider that it is expedient for us {you 
—R. V.), that one man should die for the people, and 
that the whole nation perish not.” 

You see, the question of morality, the question of 
right and wrong, does not enter into his thoughts. It 
is with him purely a political question,—the salvation 
of the nation, and that he, a politician, should main¬ 
tain himself in office and power. This is an illustra^ 
tion of the lack of wisdom frequently found in con¬ 
nection with the plans and desires of politicians. And 
history shows us that the very thing which hastened 
the destruction not only of Jerusalem, but of all Judea, 
was the course which these men pursued towards Jesus. 
That which they most wished to avoid was brought 
about, to a considerable degree, by their treatment of 
him. As I see it, the matter here resolves itself into 
merely a question of politics. These men would lose 


PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 311 

their place, the nation would be destroyed, if the teach¬ 
ings of Jesus were allowed to continue. That was 
the prominent point in the mind of this high priest, 
Caiaphas. But his language was capable of an inter¬ 
pretation which he himself did not dream of. The 
disciples afterwards recognized this and placed other 
interpretations on it. 

“And this spake he not of himself: but being high 
priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die 
for that nation; 

“ And not for that nation only, but that also he 
should gather together in one the children of God 
that were scattered abroad.” 

“ And this spake he not from himself ” is the ren¬ 
dering of the Greek. That is, the idea was not really 
his. He spoke more truly than he knew. The con¬ 
trast between the intended meaning of the words as 
spoken by Caiaphas and this interpretation as under¬ 
stood by John, and by the other disciples afterwards, 
is indeed great, as great as the contrast between light 
and darkness. That the high priest could have had 
this meaning in mind, as here interpreted by John, 
seems to be absolutely impossible, because: 

“ From that day forth they took counsel together 
for to put him to death. 

“ Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the 
Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the 


312 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


wilderness, into a city called Ephraim,* and there con¬ 
tinued with his disciples/* 

He stayed there until the Jewish passover was near 
at hand. This was the great annual festival when 
every Jew recognized the obligation to go up to Jeru¬ 
salem and worship at the temple, and many went up 
before the passover, to purify themselves.’* For the 
Jewish law with regard to personal purity being very 
strict, it was obligatory upon a large number of people 
that they should be purified before they could worship 
at the feast. 

So this large company poured into Jerusalem from 
the north, south, east, and west, until every place was 
filled and the city was crowded. It was also a time 
of holiday jollity and of meetings among friends. We 
must remember that all this time the country was be¬ 
ing agitated over the question as to who Jesus was; 
and the whole country was ringing with the news of 
the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It is true, Jesus 
had before this raised two others from the dead; but 
Lazarus was a man of more or less social importance, 
living nearer the heart of the Jewish nation, therefore 
this miracle was something which could not be denied. 
It had been publicly accomplished; it was not done in 
a corner, so to speak, as might have been said of the 

* A little village in the neighborhood of Bethel, said to be 
about twenty miles north of Jerusalem. 


PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 313 


widow’s son or of Jairus’ daughter. Lazarus had in¬ 
deed been raised from the dead; it was a fact, some¬ 
thing beyond question. 

“ Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among 
themselves, as they stood in the temple. What think 
ye, that he will not come to the feast ? ” 

If he should stay away their plans would fail; but 
if he should come, it would indicate the will of a man 
resolved not to be swerved from his purpose. Would 
he come or not? And if he was to be that Messiah 
who was to lead the people out of Roman bondage 
making of them a great nation, would he do it now, 
or would he wait ? While these questions agitated the 
people, they disturbed also the chief priests and Phari¬ 
sees. 

‘‘ Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had 
given a commandment, that, if any man knew where 
he were, he should show it, that they might take him.” 

They had attempted to take him before, but they 
were cautious. They did not want to seize him in 
the midst of an assembly, because the sentiment in his 
favor was too strong for that. They wished to pro¬ 
ceed in a quiet way so that there should be no up¬ 
rising. But Jesus was one of a considerable company, 
as was perfectly natural, since they were coming to 


314 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Jerusalem from beyond the Jordan. They came 
openly; without commotion, yet without secrecy. 

‘‘ Then Jesus six days before the passover came to 
Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, 
whom he raised from the dead. 

“ There they made him a supper; and Martha 
served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the 
table with him. 

“ Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spike¬ 
nard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and 
wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled 
with the odor of the ointment.’^ 

As some records render it, “A pound of balsam of 
genuine spikenard, of great price.” This was one of 
the most valuable perfumes known in all the East at 
that time. It was used by potentates, by people of 
great importance, and was held in high esteem by the 
Romans. This pure spikenard which Mary used was 
very costly, being worth a yearns labor or more to any 
ordinary man in those days. 

“ Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, 
Simon's son, which should betray him, 

‘‘ Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred 
pence, and given to the poor ? 

“ This he said, not that he cared for the poor; 
but because he was a thief, and had the bag (or box), 
and bare what was put therein.” 

John is the only one who makes such a remark about 


PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 315 


Jtidas as this here. The others mention him by name 
and state that he betrayed the Master, but that is all. 

Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day 
of my burying hath she kept this. 

“ For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye 
have not always.” 

Against the day of my burying,” or more accu¬ 
rately, “ against the day of my preparation for burial, 
when my body is being prepared for the tomb, hath 
she kept this.” Three different times Jesus had told 
his immediate disciples that he was going away. And 
so, as far as he was concerned, this was the opportunity 
to render a service unto him. For the poor ye have 
always with you ”; that is, if to give to the poor is 
your desire, you can assist them at all times.” 

How far Mary recognized the situation, or had in 
mind Jesus’ prediction with regard to his fate, we do 
not know, but most probably this act was merely one 
of humble service on her part, rendering honor and 
reverence to this man who had taught her great truths, 
and who had raised her brother from the dead. We 
do, however, realize that it was a remarkable expres¬ 
sion of respect and devotion. But Jesus himself saw 
in her act, whether or not she so understood it, some¬ 
what of preparation for the events that were to come. 
The rebuke to Judas, so far as it was a rebuke, was 
but a mild one. 


316 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“Much people (the common people—R. V.) of tlie 
Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came 
not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see 
Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.” 

This was but a natural curiosity, the curiosity to 
see the man who had been dead and now was alive. 
The people wished to decide for themselves whether 
or not it was really true that Lazarus lived. 

“ But the chief priests consulted that they might put 
Lazarus also to death; 

“ Because that by reason of him many of the Jews 
went away, and believed on Jesus.” 

So intense was their feeling, that they included even 
Lazarus in their hate; they wished to get him out of 
the way also. 

The next day Jesus went to Jerusalem, two miles 
farther. He had come to his friends in Bethany in 
the daylight. He had come openly, though not osten¬ 
tatiously. The people had come out from Jerusalem 
to be there at Bethany to see him and to see Lazarus 
and to know what was going on. Thus they knew all 
his plans, for they were not hidden. 

“ When the people heard that Jesus was coming to 
Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees, and went 
forth to meet him.” According to the Revised Ver¬ 
sion, “A great multitude went forth to meet him, cry- 


PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 317 


ing, Hosanna: Blessed is he that cometh in the name 
of the Lord, even the King of Israel/' 

‘‘And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat 
thereon/' 

John narrates this a little differently from the others. 
As he tells the story it would seem almost that Jesus 
was taken by surprise when he found so many people 
coming, that he himself sought for an ass to ride on, 
and not that it was made ready for him beforehand/ 
And then what our narrator introduces next is, I think, 
most impressive: 

“ As it is written, 

“Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King 
cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.” * 

The word “ fear ” as used here seems strange be¬ 
cause of the fact that the passage in Zechariah, which 
is the one evidently referred to, reads, “ Rejoice 
greatly” Yet the word “ fear” is not inappropriate 
as an expression of the thoughts and ideas of the peo¬ 
ple in those old days of the Old Testament. In the 
Psalms we read that, “ The fear of the Lord is the 
beginning of wisdom.” ’ The Lord, the God of the 
Old Testament, was a being to be feared, and every- 

^Matt. xxi. i-ii; Mark xi. i-io; Luke xix. 28-40. 

*Zech. ix. 9. 

* Psalm cxi. 10. 


318 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


thing in connection with Him was feared. Indeed 
fear was the chief thing in the relations of the people 
to the God of those days. And among those Eastern 
nations, in those early times, even the thought of their 
king brought fear to all the people; for he came in 
all pride and pomp, his sword by his side, sitting on his 
war horse, exerting tyranny on every hand and in¬ 
stilling fear in the hearts of the people. 

But here comes Jesus under conditions the exact op¬ 
posite of those; riding an ass’s colt he comes,—looked 
upon in those days as the animal of peace; without 
any of the trappings of royalty, without guards, with¬ 
out any of the appurtenances of war; his followers 
trudging along by his side on foot. So he comes! 
And fear vanishes. That was the mission of Jesus,— 
to destroy fear, to put away fear from all hearts. You 
know his relation to his disciples on all occasions. It 
is I; be not afraid,” he said to them. And so always 
he taught by the power of love and not fear. 

‘‘ These things imderstood not his disciples at the 
first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered 
they that these things were written of him, and that 
they had done these things unto him. 

“ The people therefore that was with him when he 
called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from 
the dead, bare record. 

“ For this cause the people also met him, for that 
they heard that he had done this miracle.” 


PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 319 


John’s story at this point is very simply and briefly 
told, while the other Gospels narrate a little more of 
the details of this entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In 
Luke we find the story told thus: “As the disciples 
were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto 
them. Why loose ye the colt? And they said. The 
Lord hath need of him. And they brought him to 
Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and 
they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they spread 
their clothes in the way.” In the enthusiasm of the 
moment, they, according to one rendering, “ spread 
their garments on the road,” as we might place carpets 
for one whom we wished to honor. “And when he 
was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount 
of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began 
to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the 
mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed be 
the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace 
in heaven, and glory in the highest.” 

Or, as given in John, “ Hosanna: Blessed is the 
King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” 
“ Hosanna ” means simply, “ Save, we pray thee ”! 
The word is now used as an exclamation of praise to 
God, but in its original meaning it was used in the 
sense of an invocation of God’s help and blessing. 
The words as here given were from one of the chants 
used in the temple on the occasion of the great feasts, 


320 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


when the priests read and the people responded. Thus 
these rejoicings voiced by the multitude at this time 
were of this sort largely, and were the natural out¬ 
bursts of this great gathering of people, many of whom 
thought that in Jesus they were welcoming him who 
was to be their king, even as Solomon in all his glory 
had been. Yet not all looked upon Jesus thus. 

Returning again to Luke’s version we read: ‘‘And 
some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said 
unto him. Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he an¬ 
swered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these 
should hold their peace, (be silent—Greek) the stones 
would immediately cry out. And when he was come 
near, he beheld the city, and wept over it.” 

The whole city of Jerusalem lay before him. This 
city was “ built on four hills and surrounded on three 
sides by a valley, which was environed with hills.” . It 
must have been an imposing sight from where Jesus 
beheld it, with its shining great temples, its towers and 
palaces, but we read that Jesus wept over it. Not sim¬ 
ply did he shed tears, but he cried in anguish and 
with expressions of grief, the outcries of a man in 
agony. The Greek word for “ wept ” in this place is 
not the same word that was used when Jesus is said to 
have wept at the tomb of Lazarus. It means that he 
lamented. You remember that a little earlier in his 
teaching he had said, “ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which 


PUBLIC ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM 321 


killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent 
unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy chil¬ 
dren together, as a hen doth gather her brood under 
her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is 
left unto you desolate; and verily I say unto you. Ye 
shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall 
say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord/^ ‘ 

So Jesus, beholding this city, as Luke says, wept 
over it, saying, ‘‘If thou hadst known, even thou, at 
least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy 
peace I but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the 
days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall 
cast a trench * about thee, and compass thee round, and 
keep thee in on every side. And shall lay thee even 
with the ground,* and thy children within thee; and 
they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; 
because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” * 
What a solemn prophecy and what a climax for such 
an occasion! Jesus held as a king and deliverer by 
the multitude, yet scorned and crushed by the Phari¬ 
sees. And what a spectacle must this have been! 
Jesus weeping over the sight of the glories of that city 
which he loved and which he had tried to save from 

* Luke xiii. 34, 35. 

“bank or palisade”—Revised Version. 

* “ Shall dash thee to the ground ”—Revised Version. 

* Luke xix. 41-44. 


322 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


destruction; and whose people he had so yearned over 
and had so desired to acquaint with the truth. 

So he arrived in the city. He went about and saw 
the place much as a stranger might have done. He 
no longer was a target for the eyes of the multitude, 
but just a man as other men, walking about the city. 
Yet it must have been with a heavy heart. And the 
Pharisees, intensified in their antagonism, said among 
themselves, as in conclusion we return to John’s ac¬ 
count: 

t 

** Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing ? behold, the 
world is gone after him.” 

After a little time, this plain, simple man, for he was 
again a common man of the people, went out to the 
house of his friends, Lazarus, and Martha, and Mary, 
and remained there that night. The next morning he 
came again to Jerusalem and went to the temple, and 
standing there in one of the great porches, he talked 
to the people. Thus matters went on for two or three 
days; Jesus there among them, and going in and out 
before them, questioned by the people and answering 
their questions, and presenting some of the greatest 
and most wonderful truths in all his teachings. 


XXII 


EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK 
(John XII. 20-50) 

This last week, at least a portion of it, was one of 
intense activity for Jesus. He was daily in the tem¬ 
ple talking to all those who wished to listen to him, 
each night returning to the little family in Bethany 
whose lives he had so blessed. Some of his most won¬ 
derful teaching was given during this time, but John 
says nothing about it, proceeding immediately to the 
narration of some of the events which occurred in 
the interval between his public entry and the Last 
Supper. 

‘‘ And there were certain Greeks among them that 
came up to worship at the feast: 

“ The same came therefore to Philip, which was of 
Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying. Sir, we 
would see Jesus.” 

It was not surprising that any strangers in Jeru¬ 
salem should desire to see Jesus, because there was 
much curiosity concerning him, and probably there 
was no other man in the city at that time more acces¬ 
sible than he. Any one could find him in the temple, 

323 


324 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


probably in the Court of the Gentiles which was open 
to all comers, and it was very likely there that his 
teaching took place. So Andrew and Philip take the 
message to Jesus: 

And Jesus answered them, saying. The hour is 
come, that the Son of man should be glorified.'' 

We know that he spoke of his crucifixion as a glori¬ 
fication. He evidently recognized that there was soon 
to be an end to his teaching and preaching, that soon 
his freedom was to be taken away from him. He had 
come there to Jerusalem under great stress of circum¬ 
stances, after having crossed the Jordan to avoid the 
difficulties which the priests and scribes wished to force 
upon him. 

“ Verily, verily, I say unto you. Except a com of 
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: 
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." 

There was evidently the thought of his own death 
in his mind when making this statement. In the Re¬ 
vised Version the passage is rendered: Except a grain 
of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by it¬ 
self alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit." It 
abideth alone,—separate, distinct, by its material self; 
and that is the end of it, that is, nothing more comes 
of it. But if it falls into the ground it renews its life 


EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK 


325 


and bringeth forth much fruit. The wheat, the kernel 
of grain, in this illustration, represents or stands for a 
material thing. It represents materiality just as we 
in our physical bodies represent the material self, the 
part of us which dies. Yet within us, as within the 
grain of wheat, is the germ of another and a higher 
life. And by the death of materiality, by the disap¬ 
pearance of the external manifestation, there comes 
forth into being, into activity, that which before seemed 
quiescent or asleep but which is in fact, the real or 
spiritual life. This is the life that, existing in the 
plant, brings forth the stalk, the leaf, and the blossom 
and causes them to grow and develop. Jesus fre¬ 
quently, during all of his teaching, presents this idea 
that the material being must disappear that the spir¬ 
itual being may be made manifest. And so he goes on 
in the next statement to elaborate this idea more fully. 

He that loveth his life {psyche) shall lose it; and 
he that hateth his life {psyche) in this world shall keep 
it unto life {zoe) eternal.'' 

In this passage Jesus refers to both the material and 
the spiritual life. The word ‘‘ life " in the first two 
instances is a translation of the Greek word psyche, 
meaning the life that has an ending, or the material 
life. In the third instance the word ‘‘ life " represents 
the Greek word zoe, meaning the spiritual or the 
eternal life. In the Revised Version, Margin, the word 


326 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ life ” in the first two places is rendered soul,” but 
is not so rendered in the third place. 

Thus the psyche stands for the material self, and the 
zoe for the spiritual being. The disappearance of the 
material means the appearance of the spiritual. He 
who would preserve this material life shall lose it, in¬ 
deed must lose it eventually; but he that hateth it, or, 
careth not for it, not becoming too attached to it, shall 
keep it until the eternal life,—which is the spiritual 
life,—is made manifest unto him. This is the teach¬ 
ing of Jesus all the way through, and he makes dis¬ 
tinction between the two with absolute accuracy and 
faithfulness. 

In this world we are pursuing mainly the preserva¬ 
tion of the psyche or material life, yet the psyche ” is 
that which brings suffering, pain and sorrow, is that 
which may be lost, laid down, or destroyed. It is the 
zoe, or spiritual life, which is God-given and which can 
never be lost. So Jesus continues: 

** If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where 
I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve 
me, him will my Father honor.” 

In the interpretation of this passage the idea literally 
of place does not enter in. By following him, Jesus 
naturally does not mean walking after him, but he 
means simply obedience to his teachings. If any man 


EVENTS OP THE LAST WEEK 


327 


wishes to serve Jesus he is to follow in his footsteps 
by living the truths which he taught “And where I 
am there shall also my servant be,” means that the 
servant or follower of Jesus shall one day attain to 
his knowledge of the truth. But we must follow the 
same Light that he followed if we would adhere to 
his teachings. 

“If any man serve me, him will the Father honor.” 
The article “ the ” rather than “ my ” is used in the 
Revised Version. Hu Father? Yes. But also. 
Whoever follows the truth as taught by Jesus, him 
will the Father honor. We can imagine that Jesus 
paused at this place, as there is a break in the continuity 
of thought between this verse and the following one: 

“ Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? 
Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause 
came I unto this hour.” 

“ Now is my soul troubled.” Now is the psyche 
or material self of him troubled or disturbed. And 
we do not wonder that it was so. He had without 
doubt contemplated the great event which was so soon 
to happen, and he was human, “ tempted in all points 
like as we are.” Yet we know that he recognized the 
possibility of escaping from all the sorrow and suffer¬ 
ing, the pain and disgrace, that lay ahead of him, if 
he had so desired. We know too that the spiritual 


328 KNOWING THE MASTER THKOUGH JOHN' 


being of him, the Christ, was unaffected; it stood serene 
as ever. It was only the human self, the external 
man, that was troubled at these things. 

“ What shall I say ? Father, save me from this 
hour ? ” This last clause is treated as a question in 
some of the older translations and is so rendered in the 
Revised Version, Margin. Thus the passage may have 
two interpretations. If we use the interrogation point 
we may interpret its meaning thus: Now is my soul 
troubled, and what shall I say? Shall I say. Father, 
save me from this hour? No, for on this account, 
that is, because of these very things, I came to this 
hour.” On the other hand, we may use the period' 
and say, Father, save me from this hour.” The 
clause is then rendered in the form of a prayer or pe¬ 
tition. This interpretation makes his soul seem more 
troubled and indicates his struggle. There is of course 
far less struggle indicated in merely saying, ‘‘ Shall I 
say, save me?” than in the outburst, ‘‘Father save 
me! ” But in either case his mental disturbance is of 
the briefest for he at once exclaims, “ But for this 
cause came I unto this hour.” Thus does the spir¬ 
itual self of Jesus immediately triumph over the ma¬ 
terial and he rises to the magnificent heights of the 
next words: 

‘The Revised Version uses a period at this place, the King 
James Version a colon. 


EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK 329 

“ Father, glorify Thy name.” * 

So victorious is he over the mere human self, so 
victorious over all error, that all thought of personal 
glory passes out of sight and he sees and recognizes only 
the Father, and the glory of that Father. Thus the 
thought of the personal self being so entirely absent, 
is it then so marvelous that there should come a voice 
from heaven saying: 

** 1 have both glorified (it), and will glorify (it) 
again.” * 

The people who stood by and heard this voice were 
differently affected, some saying that it thundered, 
while others said, “An angel spake to him.” Their 
spiritual ears were not open to the heavenly voices, so 
it is not strange that they should have variant opinions 
regarding this event. It is evident that they heard 
only a noise of some sort, but no words. Jesus heard 
the words and understood, and he thus explains: 

“ This voice came not because of me, but for your 
sakes.” 

Or, as in the Revised Version, “ This voice hath 
not come for my sake, but for your sakes.” 

* A rejected reading of the Greek is, “ Father, glorify the Son” 

* In the Greek this sentence reads, “ I have both glorified and 
will glorify again.” “ It ” in the Authorized Version is in italics 
showing that it has been inserted. 


330 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

“ Now is the {a —R. V. Margin) judgment of this 
world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out/* 

Jesus is near the end of his efforts, the crisis is 
imminent. Yet he is of good courage, for he knows 
that a judgment of this world of materiality and error 
is at hand; he foresees that'' the prince of this world,** ‘ 
—meaning the devil or Satan so-called,—^will be cast 
out, will be overcome and destroyed like everything 
else that is connected with that world of materiality 
and darkness. And he knows that in that day the 
right shall prevail, and that truth, peace, and love shall 
at last be victorious. Therefore the spirit of him is 
triumphant as he says: 

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw 
all men unto me.** 

John takes these words literally, not perceiving their 
deeper meaning and accordingly states that Jesus is 
here signifying what manner of death he was to die. 
Probably Jesus was indicating what death he should 
die when he spoke these words, and we do know that 
through that death he reached, and will reach, all men. 
But beyond the mere literal meaning of the words, and 
deeper than that, with a significance vastly superior to 

^ “ Ruler ” is nearer the Greek than “ prince.” Some say the 
“ruler of this world” means Satan; some, the Roman govern¬ 
ment; others, the Jewish hierarchy and magistracy. 


EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK 


331 


it, is the thought of the lifting up of the truth in every 
human being. And if the Christ of Jesus be so lifted 
up, as he is indeed lifted up, so will all men be drawn 
unto him. 

But the people, as happened on so many occasions, 
caught at some trivial idea, and referring to their own 
laws,—as they were bound 'to do, for the laws were 
the only things they were really versed in,—said to 
him: 

“We have heard out of the law ‘ that Christ abideth 
forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must 
be lifted up? who is this Son of man? 

/ 

Probably Jesus made another statement in connec¬ 
tion with this one, referring to the “ Son of man,” else 
they would hardly have used this title. In John*s re¬ 
port some of the words spoken by Jesus might easily 
have been omitted. Or, if we take the rejected inter¬ 
pretation of verse twenty-eight, “ Father, glorify the 
Son” these words “ Son of man ” may well have re¬ 
ferred to that. Jesus then tells them who the Son 
of man is, yet not in the language they expected: 

“Yet a little while is the light with* you. Walk 
while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: 

* Psalm cx. 4; Isaiah ix. 7. ^ 

* “Among” or “in” you. Revised Version, Margin. 


332 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither 
he goeth. 

While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye 
may be the children of light/' 

Believe in the light of truth, believe in the spiritual 
light which dwells within each human being, that ye 
may be the children of the one Light, which is God. 
Their very questions showed that they were walking 
in the darkness, that they did not have the light of 
, truth within themselves or had not recognized it as 
within them, and thus they continued stumbling on in 
the darkness, led by the scribes, the chief priests and 
the Pharisees, all seeking to save their nation and in 
their blindness seeking to save it through the death of 
this one man. Another rendering of these two verses, 
though with slight differences, is yet very beautifully 
expressed: “Jesus therefore said to them. Yet a little 
time the light is among you. Walk while you have 
the light, so that darkness may not overtake you; and 
he who walks in darkness knows not where he is going. 
While you have the light, believe into the light, that 
you may become the sons of light." ‘ 

“ These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did 
hide himself from them.” 

Literally “was hidden from them” as in the mar^ 
* Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott. 


EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK 


333 


ginal reading of the Revised Version, or, a little closer 
to the Greek reads, and going away he was con¬ 
cealed from them/’ 

“ But though he had done so many miracles before 
them, yet they believed not on him.” 

They did not believe in him because he did not walk 
in the way they expected him to walk, because he did 
not do what they expected him to do. He did not 
take the leadership and put himself at the head of the 
army. Instead he continued on in his own humble 
way. The narrator goes on: 

“ That the saying of Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet 
might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath be¬ 
lieved our report? and to whom hath the arm of the 
Lord been revealed ?' 

“ Therefore they could not believe, because that 
Esaias said again, 

“ He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their 
heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor 
understand with their heart, and be converted, and I 
should heal them.’ 

“ These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, 
and spake of him.” 

As it is worded here, one would almost think that 
the Jews had a prearranged and avowed purpose in 
bringing about many of these difficulties, for the sim- 


* Isaiah liii. i. 


’ Isaiah vi. lo. 


334 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


pie reason that the scriptural prophecies might be ful¬ 
filled. But that the saying of the prophet might be 
fulfilled ’’ does not mean that the Jews themselves in¬ 
tentionally disbelieved that they might have a hand in 
fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. However, it is evi¬ 
dent that John thinks God was using them as instru¬ 
ments so that the scripture might be fulfilled. Such 
an interpretation would be entirely opposite to our idea 
of God and His principle of perfect freedom. In all 

probability it was a mere coincidence, and they did not 

# 

do this for the purpose of fulfilling the prediction of 
the Old Testament; but it simply happened that in do¬ 
ing this the prediction was fulfilled. And undoubtedly 
it is the same in other similar places which we notice in 
our study of this Gospel. These are apparently merely 
instances where the narrator has woven his own per¬ 
sonal interpretation into the record as is not at all un¬ 
natural or unusual. 

“ Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many 
believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did 
not confess him (it—R. V.), lest they should be put 
out of the synagogue: 

“ For they loved the praise of men more than the 
praise of God.” 

How true that is on the part of many human beings 
to-day, as well as then! How many a person knows 
the right course to take, and yet takes it not because, 


EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK 


335 


it is not policy **! Therefore, those few of the chief 
rulers who really did believe in Jesus, would not ac¬ 
knowledge him nor proclaim their new-found truth for 
fear they would be cast out of the synagogue. It needs 
no explanation; indeed it comes too near home to us in 
this present age to require any. 

John goes on now to record what probably is the 
substance of Jesus' last teaching, that is, his last public 
teaching, for he yet had much to say to his disciples. 

** Jesus cried ‘ and said. He that believeth on me, be- 
lieveth not on me, but on Him that sent me. 

“ And he that seeth me seeth Him that sent me." 

Just as he said only a little later in his talk with his 
disciples, “ He that hath seen me hath seen the Fa¬ 
ther." This is a declaration of the oneness of the 
Father and the Christ which we have already spoken 
of. And so he says here, “ He that believeth on me, 
believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me." Mean¬ 
ing, ** He that believeth in the Christ, believeth in God 
the Father." This also means,—He that believeth in 
the spiritual being, which is the essential of every in¬ 
dividual, also believeth in God the Father. For, as 
we must always remember, Jesus did not claim for him¬ 
self any one thing that he did not, recognize as belong¬ 
ing to every human being by the divine right of that 


‘ The Greek means “ to cry out” 


336 KNOWING THE MASTEK THROUGH JOHN • 

\ 

being’s inheritance from God. Jesus is the Son of 
God, and he taught us to realize that we also are Sons 
of God. 

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever 
believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” 

“ A light in the world that men should not abide in 
the darkness.” It is a marvelously beautiful statement 
once we have realized its fullest significance. Jesus 
comes bringing a light into the world,—even the truth 
which he proclaimed and taught,—and he that believ¬ 
eth shall not walk in darkness. 

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I 
judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but 
to save the world. 

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, 
hath one that (or that which) judgeth him; the word 
(or the truth) that I have spoken, the same shall judge 
him in the last day.” 

No man ever was or ever will be saved through 
judgment or by condemnation. There is the condemn¬ 
ing power of the truth and that is the only condemna¬ 
tion. The words of Jesus are the words of truth and 
as they illuminate our minds we shall perceive the true 
character of everything, and shall comprehend the real 
nature of evil as we have not done before. The light 
of truth will then shine in our hearts and we shall 


EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK 


337 


know and understand, and so shall choose the right. 
For the natural, inborn choice of every man is the 
right, the good. 

These words of Jesus like all his teaching are of the 
deepest and the truest philosophy that the world has 
ever known. It rests on a sound, scientific basis which 
cannot be overthrown. One philosophy after another 
has risen and spread over the world, and men have 
thought for a little time that each one was the truth, 
until another arose that overshadowed it; and so on 
from the earliest history until to-day. So must all 
philosophies fail that are not built on the firm founda¬ 
tion of truth that Jesus the Christ proclaimed. 

“ For I have not spoken of ^ myself; but the Father 
which sent me. He gave me a commandment, what I 
should say, and what I should speak. 

“And I know that His commandment is life ever¬ 
lasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Fa¬ 
ther said unto me, so I speak.” 

This is the farewell declaration of Jesus as recorded 
by John; here ends the public ministry of Jesus. Here¬ 
after he talks only with his disciples, and yet in these 
teachings we have some of his greatest utterances. 

‘“From” in the Revised Version, meaning, “of my own will.” 


XXIII 


JESUS WASHING THE DISCIPLES’*FEET 

(John XIIL 1-17) 

There is an interesting historical parallel between 
Jesus and the Greek philosopher Socrates. Neither 
wrote a line. Both had more than one biographer. 
Xenophon in his Memorabilia gives us many inter¬ 
esting details about the life of his teacher Socrates. 
But it required the sympathetic understanding and in¬ 
sight of a Plato to do justice to Socrates’ sublime ideas. 
So Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us a full account of 
Jesus^ daily life, but John, ignoring minor details, gives 
us some of Jesus' loftiest and most inspired teachings, 
which the others omit entirely. After the teachings 
of Jesus discussed in the last chapter John proceeds 
immediately to the account of the Lord’s Supper, omit¬ 
ting several minor events recorded in the other Gos¬ 
pels. He emphasizes the spiritual significance of the 
words and acts of Jesus where the others apparently 
failed to grasp them. 

** Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus 
knew that his hour was come that he should depart 

338 


WASHING THE DISCIPLES’ FEET 339 

out of this world unto the Father, having loved his 
own which were in the world, he loved them unto the 
end. 

‘‘And supper being ended, the devil having now 
put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to 
betray him; 

“ Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things 
into his hands, and that he was come from God, and 
went to God; 

“ He riseth from supper, and laid aside his gar¬ 
ments;’ and took a towel, and girded himself.” 

Jesus knew that his hour was come and that he was 
soon to depart out of this world unto the Father. He 
knew that, as the Revised Version gives it, “ He came 
forth from God, and goeth unto God.” He knew that 
he was inseparable from the life of God, and also that 
“ the Father had given all things into his hands ” for 
his accomplishment. The idea to be conveyed in the 
thought of going from here to the Father, of “ depart¬ 
ing out of this world unto the Father ” is not so much 
a question of going to a particular place, as of passing 
from one sphere or condition to another. It refers to 
the change from the physical manifestation to that of 
the spiritual; and by “ this world ” is meant the world 
of materiality and error, concerning which he had so 
recently spoken when he said, “ Now shall the prince 
or ruler of this world be cast out.” 

* A closer rendering of the Greek is, “ layeth aside his mantle.” 


340 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


And how John emphasizes the depth of the love of 
Jesus when he says that Jesus, having loved his own 
which were in the world, loved them unto the end.” 
This may be intended to mean simply that he loved 
them unto the end of his earthly career. It certainly 
does mean that, and far more than that, I should say. 
In the Revised Version, Margin, we find it rendered, 
“ He loved them to the uttermost.” And did he not 
love them unto the uttermost? For he himself said, 
“ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay 
down his life for his friends.” And we know that his 
love, not only for them but for all mankind, was such 
that he was willing to lay down his life that men might 
know and understand the truth, as men had not known 
and understood it before; and that men recognizing the 
Light might follow it. 

“ Supper being ended, the devil having now put into 
the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him.” We must 
remember that this is not the language of Jesus, but 
the language of John, and that John is speaking accord¬ 
ing to his own understanding. He believed in a per¬ 
sonal devil, and so he uses language in accordance with 
his belief. The word that is here translated ** devil ” 
is sometimes translated “ accuser,” slanderer,” and 
also “ enemy.” 

What a sharp contrast is pictured here between Judas 
with the thought of betrayal in his heart, and Jesus 


WASHING THE DISCIPLES^ FEET 341 


who knew that the Father had given him all things, 
and that he was come from God and was returning 
unto God. The consciousness of this marvelous truth 
in his own mind, towering above all lesser thoughts, 
adds a dignity, a solemnity and impressiveness to his 
actions which stand out very strongly at this time. 
Who can say with any sense of realization that the 
Father has given all things unto himself ? Instead of 
this realization we observe our limitations on every 
hand; indeed we think we live in a world of limita¬ 
tions. Jesus perceiving those limitations and our sub¬ 
jection to them, yet knowing their powerlessness to 
bind us, literally accepted them for our sakes, that he 
might show us that they do not really apply to any one 
of God's children. 

Luke does not mention the washing of the disciples* 
feet by Jesus, but he does mention a minor incident 
which is supposed to have happened just previous to 
this occasion. I refer to the strife which arose among 
the disciples with regard to the question as to who 
** should be accounted the greatest.” If these two in¬ 
cidents are as closely related as they appear to be, the 
action of Jesus in washing the feet of the disciples is 
given an even greater significance. It is evident from 
this episode that the twelve disciples were still bound 
by the petty ambitions of this world, and the action 
of Jesus in performing this humble service must have 


342 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


been to them a profound example which naturally 
spoke louder than any words. In the simple language 
of Luke we read: ‘'There was also a strife among 
them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. 
And Jesus said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles 
exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise 
authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye 
shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let 
him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that 
doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at 
meat, (he who sits at tlie table and is waited upon) 
or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but 
I am among you as he that serveth.” ‘ 

There is to be neither greater nor less, but the one 
who would be great is to be as the humblest, and he 
that would be chief as he that serves. And so Jesus 
says, “ I am among you as he that serveth.” And that 
was true. 

Picture to yourselves Jesus rising from the table, 
laying aside his mantle and taking a towel and girding 
himself. The towel was the badge of servitude; it 
was what the slave wore when he served his master. 
He laid aside his outer garments, thus divesting him¬ 
self of the appearance of superiority, if any such ap¬ 
pearance there was, and he clothed himself in the robe 
of servitude, tying the towel about his loins. 

^ Luke xxii. 24-27. 


WASHING THE DISCIPLES’ FEET 343 


“ After that he poureth water into a basin, and began 
to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the 
towel wherewith he was girded.” 

Wilson says, The washing of the feet in times of 
primitive simplicity was performed by the host or 
hostess to the guest, but afterwards it was committed 
to the servants, and therefore was accounted a servile 
employment. At the time when our Lord performed 
this office, it was esteemed the office of the meanest 
slaves.” 

Thus this service that Jesus performed for his dis¬ 
ciples was looked upon as work fit only for the lowest 
menial of the household. It was considered the most 
degrading work that the slave did, yet performed with 
such dignity and love by this man, who knew that the 
Father had given all things into his hands, and whose 
knowledge of the truth was such that he might have 
accomplished anything he had undertaken. Truly a 
wonderful lesson to mankind. We wonder what could 
have been the thoughts of the disciples. I imagine 
that Peter voiced them pretty well when he said to 
Jesus: 

“ Lord, dost thou wash my feet? ” 

There is much feeling expressed in this question of 
Peter’s, spoken with his natural impulsiveness and with 
a keen surprise at this act of servitude on the part of 


344 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Jesus. In these few words he expresses his own 
thought of the superiority of Jesus and the inferiority 
of himself, as with strong emphasis he says, '' Dost 
thou wash my feet? ’’ In the original the use of the 
word for thou,’’ which would ordinarily be omitted, 
and the position of the word for “ my,” indicate that 
his question was very emphatic. And then comes 
Jesus’ answer to the wondering Peter: 

“ What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt 
know (understand—R. V.) hereafter.” 

Another rendering and one that seems closer to the 
Greek reads: “ What I am doing, thou knowest not 
now, but after this thou wilt know.” And in the 
words which Jesus uses at the close of this incident ‘ 
he gives a most conclusive reason for this act of his, 
as we shall see. But Peter is impetuous declaring 
with much emphasis: 

Thou shalt never wash my feet.” 

In the original this is equivalent to, “ Thou shalt 
not in all eternity wash my feet.” Peter does not in¬ 
tend to allow his Master to thus degrade or lower him^ 
self for him. We are reminded of another occasion 
long before, when Jesus asked his disciples who he 
was, and how Peter replied, '' Thou art the Christ, the 

* Verses 12-17. 


WASHING THE DISCIPLES' FEET 345 


Son of the living God"; and how Jesus, prophesying 
of his going up to Jerusalem and of his suffering many 
things of the scribes and Pharisees, told them he was 
to tread the path of sorrow and disgrace and finally 
be killed. Then this same impetuous Peter began to 
remonstrate with him saying, “ Be it far from thee. 
Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”' And so now 
again, with similar vehemence he exclaims, “ Thou 
shalt never wash my feet.” Then Jesus in his calm¬ 
ness answers him: 

‘‘ If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.” 

Metaphorically we might say, “If I cleanse thee 
not, thou hast no part with me,” or “ nothing to do 
with me.” And we may enlarge this idea until it in¬ 
cludes every human being in all the world, because if 
we are not cleansed through the Christ then we have 
no part in the Christ. This reply touches Peter to 
the quick. Like many another person, Peter's heart 
was right, yet he was too easily carried away by his 
enthusiasm. He is an extremist, being never in the 
middle place, and so he immediately takes the opposite 
position and in his intensity says: 

“ Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and 
my head. 


‘Matt. xvi. 15-23. 


346 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

“Jesus saith to him, He that is washed* needeth 
not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; and 
ye are clean, but not all.” 

It was customary for the Jews to bathe themselves 
before eating the paschal supper. Therefore no per¬ 
son sat at the passover feast without having previously 
fully bathed. So when Jesus said, “ He that is bathed, 
needeth not to wash except his feet,” he meant simply 
that if one had been walking in the streets since taking 
his bath, his feet alone would need purification. “And 
ye are clean, but not all.” Our narrator explains this 
by saying in the next verse: 

“For he knew who should betray him; therefore 
said he. Ye are not all clean.” 

That is, “ You are clean, but not every one of you.” 
Jesus seems here to be speaking metaphorically. Judas 
was not clean at heart, being evil-minded, because of 
his intention to betray Jesus. Evidently the others 
made no remonstrance; they had heard the conversa¬ 
tion and accepted the situation, each according to his 
own way of thinking. It was a solemn scene. Prob¬ 
ably a period of silence ensued, for what was there to 
say after this? We can but imagine that surprise 
and wonderment prevailed that Jesus should in their 
opinion thus humiliate himself. 

* In the Greek the verb here means “ to bathe/" In the ex¬ 
pression “ to wash Ins feet,” a different verb is used. 


WASHING THE DISCIPLES’ FEET 347 


^ ** So after he had washed their feet, and had taken 
his garments, and was set down again, he said unto 
them. Know ye what I have done to you ? ” 

Probably each one of the disciples had a different 
idea regarding the proceedings, and very likely, as 
with Peter, each thought that the Master had humili¬ 
ated himself by this act. And to-day, in the discus¬ 
sion of this incident, we hear much about the hu¬ 
mility ” manifested by Jesus at this time. I do not 
believe there was one particle of so-called ** humility ” 
manifested in his action, or in his bearing, much less 
a sense of servitude. I believe he was fully conscious 
from the beginning to the end, of what he was, and 
of what he was doing; and that he sacrificed not one 
iota of his real dignity. He had a definite object in 
doing this. The act manifestly was performed with 
true gentleness and loving-kindness, and I do not be¬ 
lieve there was a heart there that was not deeply af¬ 
fected. No, he did not humiliate himself! 

Know ye what I have done to you ? ” Or, Know 
ye why I have done this to you ? ” ' 

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for 
so I am. 

“ If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed 
your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 

/ 

^ “ What ” and “ why ” are the same in Greek. If it means 
“ why,” “ this ” must be supplied. 


348 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

“For I have given you an example, that ye should 
do as I have done to you. 

“ Verily, verily, I say unto you. The servant is not 
greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater 
than he that sent him.”' 

“Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; 
for so I am.’* “ Master and Lord,” or “ Teacher and 

Lord,” for “ Teacher ” is the rendering of the Re¬ 
vised Version. Here in this one instance, among all 
the records that we have of him, does Jesus accept 
this title of “ Lord,” always in other places, denying 
these or similar titles; but recognizing here his full 
dignity. He did this for the purpose, as I believe, 
of bringing home more strongly to his disciples the 
lesson that he would teach them, that the humblest 
service, even that which may be called the work of 
the meanest, or the lowest, has in it no disgrace, but 
rather is ennobled, if it is done for love’s sake. And 
not only that, but when it is performed in this way, it 
is to be regarded as an action worthy of the highest 
and the greatest. Yet it is not to be done as a cere¬ 
monial, not as a formality, for in the ceremony and 
the formality, all the life goes out of a thing, and 
it is merely a form and nothing more. But if it is 
the service of love, as this was,—for John says that 
Jesus loved them to the uttermost,—it does not lower, 

* See Luke vi. 40 and John xv. 20. 


WASHING THE DISCIPLES’ FEET 349 


but instead ennobles the one who gives it. And so if 
this be true, this kind of service, one to another in 
brotherly love, becomes, one might almost say, a 
duty. And yet it becomes as well, a deep joy and a 
pleasure. 

So these disciples were taught through the example 
of Jesus, how far astray they were in their strife for 
rank and position, in their strife to be first. As he had 
said at other times, “ The last shall be first, and the first 
last ”; and this was his teaching throughout. We find 
similar statements in Matthew: He that is greatest 
among you shall be your servant. And whosoever 
shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall 
humble himself shall be exalted.” He was continu¬ 
ally teaching brotherly love and the oneness of all man¬ 
kind. We know how it was in his teaching concern¬ 
ing anger when he said, “ If thou bring thy gift to 
the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath 
aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the 
altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, 
and then come and offer thy gift.” ‘ First be recon¬ 
ciled to thy brother ” or “ changed throughout towards 
thy brother ”; and this really means, “ be at one with 
your brother; be in harmony with him.” And in this 
instance here of the washing of the disciples’ feet, we 
have practically the same meaning, “ Be so at one with 

‘Matt. V. 23, 24. 


350 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


your brother that you can perform any service for him 
that you would allow him to perform for yourself/^ 

And indeed who can claim first place, who can claim 
rank above another? Jesus himself was here, not as 
one who ruled, but as one who served. He was here 
on an equality with all men, claiming nothing for him¬ 
self above others. He dined with the scribes and 
Pharisees, and hesitated not to tell them their faults; 
he dined, too, with the accused, with the sinner, or 
with the despised and forsaken, on the same level of 
equality. He did this because a great love towards all 
mankind was the basis of all that he did. And so in 
this instance he was serving in the lowest place because 
he loved his disciples and wished to see them free 
themselves from all those faults which he knew would 
hinder their work when he had left them. Also Jesus 
realized that he who claimed first place would sooner 
or later lose that position just by reason of that very 
trait in his character which had caused him to wish 
to be placed above his fellows. He wanted his dis¬ 
ciples to be perfect. He wishes us all to be perfect, 
for did he not say, ‘‘ Be ye therefore perfect, even as 
your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 

‘‘ If I then have washed your feet, ye also ought to 
wash one another’s feet.” Back of these words, we 
recognize the great principle of love which makes this 
statement binding, yet without bondage, for as Jesus 


WASHING THE DISCIPLES’ FEET 351 


did this humble work and was ennobled thereby, so 
he would have us act and without the thought of any 
bondage in our actions. He would have us act always 
with freedom, and simply because we wish to. And 
so he closes: 

“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do 
them,*' or, as in the Revised Version, “ blessed are ye 
if ye do them.” 

The word that is here translated “ happy ” is the 
same word that is translated “ blessed ” in the beati¬ 
tudes ; thus we may include the meaning of both words 
in our interpretation of the passage. “If you know 
these things, happy are you and blessed are you, if you 
do them.” 


XXIV 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 
(John XIII. 18-35) 

“Judas Iscariot, Simon's son!” Probably in all 
the Christian world no man has been so universally 
condemned, so universally scorned, so universally ex¬ 
ecrated as this man. For centuries, it has seemed as 
if men have deemed it their duty to hate him, even 
those who call themselves followers of him who said, 
“A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love 
one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love 
one another.” Condemnation of another, merely upon 
appearances, seems to come to most of us human be¬ 
ings with remarkable ease. We observe the outward 
act, the surface appearance, and that being bad, 
straightway we issue sweeping condemnation. We 
are inclined to take the easiest way, and it seems vastly 
easier to condemn immediately than it is to attempt 
some understanding of the circumstances, especially 
the inner motives, that led to the act which we con¬ 
demn. We appear to consider it our duty to condemn, 
at least in special cases, thus arrogating to ourselves a 
right which is the exact opposite of Jesus' teaching. 

Judas was a traitor, and humanity, without exception, 

352 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 353 

scorns the traitor. We have always assumed that 
Judas in his betrayal of Jesus acted from an actual 
wickedness of heart, a genuine desire for evil. Yet 
Judas was one of the twelve! We are reminded of 
the old story of the two knights who met beside a 
shield, one declaring it was golden, the other that it 
was silver, yet neither looked on the opposite side 
until after the battle. So here, there are two sides to 
this story of Judas; and as we recognize that there is 
never under any circumstances an appearance of evil 
without the good alongside, so also there was some 
good in Judas. Many authors have exhausted their 
ingenuity to make a devil wholly bad. They cannot 
do it. Perhaps John Milton was as successful as any 
in this attempt, yet no boy has ever read ‘‘ Paradise 
Lost,’' who did not have some admiration, if a secret 
one, for Milton’s devil. There is somewhat of good 
or of truth in Milton’s devil, else he could not have 
conceived the character. And so Judas Iscariot, Si¬ 
mon’s son, was not wholly bad. 

We know but little about him; he does not figure very 
largely among the disciples, being mentioned but a 
few times in the different Gospels, and except at the 
end and in connection with this account of his treach¬ 
ery, only incidentally. The first mention we have of 
him in Matthew, Mark, and Luke* is when Jesus 
^ Matt. X. 4; Mark iii. 19; Luke vi. 16. 


354 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


selects his twelve disciples, and in each of these in¬ 
stances he is the last one of the twelve to be listed, and 
is spoken of in each instance as the traitor, or the one 
who betrayed Jesus. 

The first mention of him in this Gospel is in the 
sixth chapter, where Jesus after asking the twelve if 
they also would go away when others had left him, 
merely alludes to one of the twelve who would ulti¬ 
mately betray him.'‘ Judas comes prominently into 
view for the first time in the story of the alabaster box 
of precious ointment, where John, in telling the story 
says, Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, 
Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not 
this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given 
to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the 
poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and 
bare what was put therein.” 

And so you see with the first prominent notice of 
him, he is called a thief, and we accept that without 
further consideration. I do not say he was not a 
thief, but this fact appears to be true, that he was the 
financial agent of the twelve disciples. The money 
that came to them was entrusted to him, and evidently 
the buying of the food and other things necessary for 

’According to the usual translation Jesus is recorded as saying 
at this time, “ and one of you is a devil,” but “ false accuser ” 
or “ slanderer ” is closer to the Greek than “ devil.” 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 


355 


the disciples’ use was left in his hands. One writer 
is authority for the statement that Judas was the one 
who looked out for “ the upper chamber ” and hired 
it We have no indication or mention of his being a 
thief except what John tells us in the instance just 
referred to; and we know that even after this he con¬ 
tinued with his work as the financial leader of the 
little company. To my mind this indicates confidence 
in him in one particular at least,—that of commercial 
or financial integrity. 

The next we hear of Judas is his going to the chief 
priests to sell his Master for money; and then again 
he appears at the Supper. Later we find him at the 
betrayal, kissing his Master as a sign. And then after¬ 
wards, when his scheme had failed, we find him going 
out in the darkness ol the night and hanging himself. 
A tragic personal history indeed! The great question 
is, why did he do it ? Let us look at some of the at¬ 
tendant circumstances. 

In the first place, all through Jesus’ career, the Jews 
generally, and the twelve disciples in particular, ex¬ 
pected him to establish an earthly kingdom. They 
were, as we know, expecting their Messiah to set up 
a throne in Jerusalem, and sitting on that throne, thus 
to rule the Jews, and restore again the ancient mag¬ 
nificence of the country, making it again a kingdom. 
These expectations were all the more intense because 


356 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


at that time they were imder the power of the Roman 
Empire, and the whole nation hated the Roman 
yoke. 

There were two divisions in the country. There 
were those who hated with an open conviction and 
dared to express their feelings, and there were those 
who hated secretly and kept their thoughts to them¬ 
selves and bided their time. These were the two 
political parties of that day. And as I have said, the 
disciples themselves joined in this feeling of hatred 
of the Roman rule. Somehow the Jewish idea of the 
kingdom of God, as a temporal, earthly kingdom with 
an earthly king, never passed from their minds. They 
failed to recognize that the kingdom of God of which 
Jesus preached was the kingdom within each and every 
being, as he had tried to tell them. The proof of this 
is found in the first chapter of Acts where is told the 
story of the ascension. They had met expecting some¬ 
thing unusual to occur, and what was their question? 
They had waited and waited for three years or more; 
they had seen their king hang on the cross; they had 
seen him after he was risen from the dead; they had 
been with him for probably forty days, and yet they 
ask him, “ Wilt thou at this time restore again the 
kingdom to Israel ? '' 

You see, the idea of an Israelitish kingdom was in 
their thoughts all along, and can we expect that Judas 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 


357 


was any exception to this? Scarcely. We have seen 
how at various times Jesus escaped from the presence 
of the people in order to avoid being proclaimed king. 
We know that even his immediate followers were in 
sympathy with this, for some of the records say that 
certain of them came to him asking for the highest 
seat in his kingdom, when he should have come into 
his power. (Even at the Supper here, that meal, that 
meeting, was pervaded by the thought of who should 
be first among them.) They were not thinking here 
of the kingdom of the spirit, for in the kingdom of 
the spirit, as we know, there is no first and no last, no 
greater and no less. So here was this prevailing idea, 
a national idea, which had even influenced the disciples 
themselves. And we cannot except Judas. 

So they have followed Jesus along, conscious of the 
fact that he literally put aside the crown, not as Caesar 
did with the idea of taking it up again, but with the 
thought and the knowledge that he should never accept 
it. That Judas was evidently the sort of character 
which we to-day would call a man of affairs is 
indicated in part by the fact that he was their financial 
agent. And we can imagine that, imbued as he was 
with this idea of a temporal kingdom, Judas had been 
repeatedly disappointed. For repeatedly the oppor¬ 
tunity had come for Jesus to declare himself king, take 
the sword of authority, and put himself at the head of 


358 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


the Jewish nation. And yet every time he had de¬ 
clined to do this. 

Judas was, we may suppose, an impetuous, strenu¬ 
ous man, full of the vision of a political kingdom and 
anxious for it to appear; for in its appearance he 
doubtless imagined that he with the other disciples 
could take the places of prominence; and most likely 
he had the thought also, of the good that would be 
done in this kingdom with Jesus as chief ruler. In¬ 
deed, the disciple Peter believed that in the last 
emergency Jesus would act for himself; that is, that 
when the final crisis arrived he would defend himself 
and seize the reins of authority and would do the work 
which Judas and they all understood to be his God- 
given work and his special mission,—to restore the 
kingdom of Israel. And these feelings increased in 
intensity from month to month, and then from week 
to week, and now from day to day. Parallel with 
this ran the feelings of the chief priests and Pharisees, 
whose fear and hatred increased, for they saw that in 
the teaching of Jesus was the end of their authority, 
if he should be made a ruler. How long would it take 
a practical man like Judas to see in this his oppor¬ 
tunity? Evidently the time had come when there 
could be no more open preaching by Jesus. The crisis 
was upon him. It only needed something to precipi¬ 
tate the final event. And what better thing to hasten 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 


359 


this could there be than the arrest of Jesus? A man 
looking at the subject with these ideas in mind could 
not for a moment imagine that Jesus would submit to 
arrest,—this man who had revealed such power, and 
who had accomplished such wonderful things. For 
remember, these men all believed that Jesus was to be 
the temporal sovereign. He would not submit to ar¬ 
rest; thus it would force the crisis; he would be com¬ 
pelled to act, and to act in the interest of his prophet¬ 
ically appointed dominion. Such might well be the 
thoughts of Judas. It takes no great stretch of the 
imagination to conclude that Judas merely wanted to 
accelerate the course of events and to bring to his Mas¬ 
ter the glory that he believed belonged to him. Under 
these conditions he merely used the chief priests for his 
tools; that was all. 

Early in Jesus' career he laid down a general prin¬ 
ciple which you have heard over and over again. Told 
in the form of a metaphor, it nevertheless proclaims a 
great truth: “The light (lamp—R. V.) of the body 
is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single (perfect or 
sound), thy whole body shall be full of light. But if 
thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of dark¬ 
ness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, 
how great is that darkness! " ' 

The light that was in Judas and was influencing his 

* Matt. vi. 22, 23. 


360 KI^OWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


actions was the light of this world only, the world 
of materiality. His methods were the methods of this 
world, and, if you please, the political methods of to¬ 
day. Judas was walking in the darkness, believing it 
to be the light, because he knew no other light; what 
he considered light was but the darkness of materiality. 
Judas was not unlike millions of people to-day, who 
believe error to be truth; who believe darkness to be 
light. And Jesus said that if a man walked in the 
darkness he would stumble, and Judas stumbled. 

To my mind, the significant, the decisive point in 
connection with this, is the fact that when Judas found 
that Jesus was delivered unto the Roman authorities, 
when he found that his scheme had utterly failed, and 
instead of bringing his Master to the throne, he had 
brought him to the cross,—that Master whom he 
loved, as I believe he did love him,—he did not do the 
deed of a hardened man, nor even that of a rascal, he 
simply went back to those men and flung their silver 
in their faces. He wanted none of that because that 
was not what he was after. Had he been a thoroughly 
bad man he would have kept the silver. He flung the 
silver in their faces and went out and hanged himself. 
I do not say this is the explanation; I merely say it is 
plausible. And I present this statement of Judas' side 
of the case, that possibly we may be aided thereby in 
following Jesus' precept ,Judge not/' 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 361 

To return to the story of the Last Supper, Jesus 
says: 

** I speak not of you all: I know whom I have 
chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He 
that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against 
me/ 

‘'Now I tell you before it come (to pass—R. V.), 
that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that 1 am 
(he)- 

“ He - does not occur in the original Greek, being 
inserted here by the translators. It is omitted in the 
Revised Version, Margin. Thus we may use the em¬ 
phatic ending “ I am ” ^ and it certainly seems prefer¬ 
able at this place to the rendering “ I am he.” Jesus 
is probably referring here to his coming crucifixion, 
and if that is so, it is as if he said, “ I tell you now 
before it happens, that when it has happened you may 
believe that I am, that / exist, or in other words that 
1 still live/^ 

Even the most common meal in the East is a sacred 
affair. To this day, and even among the robbers of 
the desert, a man is protected if he but break bread 
with another. And here, Jesus says that one who had 
sat at table with him, who had partaken of bread with 
him, was to betray him. The record continues: 

* Psalm xli. g. 

’ “ I Am ” is an expression of existence. 


362 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in 
spirit, and testified, and said. Verily, verily, I say unto 
you, that one of you shall betray me/^ 

This occurred as they reclined at the table and prob¬ 
ably after Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet, but 
just where it came in we do not know, for John does 
not tell us about the breaking of bread, though we 
surmise that it was in the midst of that solemn part 
of the feast. The disciples had not understood Jesus 
when he made reference to the fact that one of their 
number was to betray him and they did not understand 
him now. And so we can imagine how they looked at 
one another, each asking in his own heart, Who is 
it? ” They had absorbed somewhat of the spirit of 
the occasion, and this statement from their Master 
must have been one to fill them all with wonder and 
alarm. 

‘‘ Now there was leaning on Jesus* bosom one of his 
disciples, whom Jesus loved.” 

In the Revised Version this reads, There was at 
the table reclining in Jesus’ bosom one of his disci¬ 
ples.” They did not sit at the table as we do, but 
“ they reclined on a couch, or couches, each resting on 
his left elbow with the right arm free, and with his 
feet sloping away from the table towards the back of 
the couch, so he that turned his back on his next neigh- 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 


363 


bor was said to be ‘ lying in his bosom/ ” Thus the 
man “leaning on Jesus' bosom” was the man imme¬ 
diately in front of him, and is supposed to have been 
John, the disciple so often spoken of as “ the disciple 
whom Jesus loved.” This position would make it 
easy for John to speak to Jesus in a whisper which 
could not be heard by the other disciples. 

“ Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he 
should ask who it should be of whom he spake.” 

Who is it that is to betray him? John, in his close 
proximity to the Master, had but to turn his face a 
little and whisper, “ Lord, who is it? ” Jesus did not 
give a direct answer, but said: 

“ He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have 
dipped it.” 

The “ sop ” usually consisted of a piece of the flesh 
of lamb and a piece of unleavened bread, mixed with 
bitter herbs. Another part of the feast was a dish of 
broth or a sort of thick sauce; this might be merely 
vinegar with water in it, or it might be composed of 
vinegar, figs, dates, almonds, and spices mixed to¬ 
gether to a stiff consistency. Thus a portion of lamb, 
unleavened bread and bitter herbs, was taken by the 
master of the feast and dipped into the sauce, and this 
was handed in succession to each one seated about the 


364 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


table. This was but one of the regular courses of the 
meal. 

'‘And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to 
Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 

" And after the sop Satan' entered into him. Then 
said Jesus unto him. That thou doest, do quickly. 

" Now no man at the table knew for what intent he 
spake this unto him.” 

The disciples were apparently in ignorance of Judas^ 
proposed treachery. At any rate it would appear that 
only John, and possibly Peter, heard what Jesus had 
said regarding who it was that should betray him. 
Otherwise they might have known, but they did not 
know. At least as the narrative shows, they did not 
understand the purport of Jesus’ words when he said, 
" That thou doest, do quickly.” 

“For some of them thought, because Judas had the 
bag, that Jesus had said unto him. Buy those things 
that we have need of against the feast; or, that he 
should give something to the poor. * 

“ He then having received the sop, went immedi¬ 
ately out: and it was night.” 

This last declaration seems one of much significance, 
for it was indeed night in Judas’ mind; it was night 
in his understanding. To all appearances his light had 
gone out and he walked in darkness, not seeing the 

'This, we must remember, was John's own statement, and also 
that “ Satan ” is sometimes translated “ the adversary.” 


JUDAS AND HIS MOTIVES 


365 


way. But note the position taken by Jesus. Only a 
short time before he had brought the dead to life. 
And with this infinite power which he possessed, he 
had only to lift a finger and Judas would have stood 
there before him immovable; he had only to say a 
word and Judas would have been powerless. But shall 
this man who had told the world not to resist evil, him¬ 
self offer resistance? Was he to disobey his own pre¬ 
cept? For to have hindered Judas would have been 
to resist the evil. Shall this man who taught the prin¬ 
ciple of freedom as no other man has ever taught it, 
hinder the action of any man; shall he dominate an¬ 
other ? No! And he did not; not even in the supreme 
hour, when, with a little exercise of his authority, he 
might have stopped it all. He, in the sublimity of his 
own character, resisted not the evil, but remained true 
to his teaching of absolute freedom, that freedom 
which is the right of each individual. Truly indeed 
is the Son of man glorified ” as the next verse states: 

** Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said. Now 
is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 

‘‘ And God shall glorify him in Himself, and 
straightway shall He glorify him.^ 

Little children, yet a little while I am with you. 
Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither 
I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.*' 

* The Revised Version is used in verse thirty-two as its mean¬ 
ing seems more clearly rendered than in the King James Version. 


366, lOSrOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


He is going away. The solemnity of this moment 
is beyond the power of the imagination. And what 
is his next instruction, within a very few moments 
after Judas had left on his errand of perfidy, which 
Jesus knew would result in his death on the cross? 
If ever there was a place for hate, if ever there was 
a place for revenge, or for retribution even, surely it 
was here on this occasion, but instead we have these 
words: 

“ A new commandment I give unto you. That ye 
love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love 
one another.’' 

What marvelous words to follow so closely the mo¬ 
ment of his betrayal! And then, 

‘‘ By this shall all men know that ye are my disci¬ 
ples, if ye have love one to another.” 

And this is the epitome and the culmination of Jesus* 
teaching, repeated again two chapters farther on in 
this same Gospel, That ye love one another, as I have 
loved you.” 

And as complement and fulfillment of this we have 
John’s words: “ If we love one another, God dwelleth 
in us, and His love is perfected in us.”' 


* I John iv. 12. 


XXV 


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE 
(John XIIL 33-38; XIV. 1-11) 

John, in his account of the Last Supper, records a 
conversation of some length which occurred at that 
time, either after the Supper, or during its progress. 
It is important to bear in mind that the division into 
chapters is purely arbitrary, being made without rela¬ 
tion to the logical analysis of the discourse. So in our 
study it is well, as far as possible, to disregard the di¬ 
vision into chapters, because in nearly every instance 
these divisions confuse the sense, and break the con¬ 
tinuity of the conversation. 

The conversation begins at once upon the departure 
of Judas and follows along more or less continuously 
until the great prayer of the seventeenth chapter. Jesus 
had several times before this told his disciples what 
must happen at the conclusion of his work. That is, 
he had predicted his own crucifixion and the apparent 
disaster to his mission. And so now he begins imme¬ 
diately upon this same theme, which is the subject of 
his discourse throughout this conversation. For what 
he says at this time is very largely intended by him 

to be an explanation that shall satisfy the reason and 

367 


368 KNOWING THE MASTEE THROUGH JOHN 


understanding of his disciples, so that they will not be 
so much surprised at his death and the incidents fol¬ 
lowing it. He wishes them to understand him fully, 
not only in his position at that time, but in the position 
which he must take in the critical events so soon to 
occur. He begins very simply: 

** Little children, yet a little while I am with you. 
Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither 
I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.’’ 

Although Jesus does not directly say that he is go¬ 
ing away, yet his words imply that, and that he is 
going where they cannot at that time follow him. And 
Peter immediately curious inquires: 

Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him. 
Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou 
shalt follow me afterwards.” 

We recognize at once that Jesus in speaking about 
going away, uses that term instead of the direct an¬ 
nouncement of his crucifixion and death, but his dis¬ 
ciples did not at all understand it so. He has told 
Peter that he cannot follow him now, but that he shall 
follow him afterwards. So their curiosity is aroused, 
and Peter says unto him: 

Lord, why cannot I follow thee now ? I will lay 
down my life for thy sake.” 


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE 369 

In the enthusiasm of the moment Peter is ready to 
go with Jesus even unto his own death, thinking, prob¬ 
ably, only of the dangers of a possible journey to some 
other country. Jesus had been, we know, for some 
little time previous to this in Judea outside the do¬ 
minion of Herod. He had also been away from the 
scribes and Pharisees; away from the dangers of as¬ 
sassination, or arrest by the authorities. Therefore it 
was but natural that Peter should think as he did, and 
that he should make his statement in this impassioned 
way. I think we all like Peter, because he was so 
eager and outspoken, and it seems rather a part of 
our human nature to admire him even for his very 
defects. So Peter says, “ I will lay down my life for 
thy sake,” and Jesus answers him: 


Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, 
verily, I say unto thee. The cock shall not crow," till 
thou hast denied me thrice.” 


* That is, “ the watch trumpet shall not sound.” “ It is well 
known that no cocks were allowed to remain in Jerusalem dur¬ 
ing the passover feast. The Romans, who had a strong guard 
in the castle of Antonia, which overlooked the temple, divided 
the night into four watches, beginning at six, nine, twelve, and 
three o’clock. Mark xiii. 35 alludes to this division of time. 
The two last watches were both called cock-crowings. The 
Romans relieved guard at each watch by sound of trumpet; 
the trumpet of the third watch was called the first, and that of 
the fourth the second cock. And when it was said the cock 
crew, the meaning is, that the trumpet of the third watch 
sounded, which always happened at midnight.”—Wilson’s Em¬ 
phatic Diaglott. 


370 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

So far as the narrative is concerned, this part ends 
here; and Jesus, according to this record, begins at 
once to tell where he is going, and why. He also 
speaks to them in the course of this conversation, many 
words of comfort and of preparation for their work 
when he shall no longer be with them. He says: 

“Let not your heart be troubled: (ye) believe in 
God, believe also in me.” 

“Ye” is omitted in the Revised Version, Margin. 
“ Let not your heart be troubled at my going away; 
believe in God and believe in me also.” Jesus knows 
that if they do thus really believe, they will not be dis¬ 
turbed by his departure. These are words of comfort 
that every one who mourns or who is in trouble may 
apply unto himself. “ Let not your heart he troubled.” 
And this is his counsel to his disciples whenever they 
are in any difficulty, or whenever they are in any way 
disturbed, as when they saw him coming to them over 
the water, and he said, “ Fear not.” 

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it 
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare 
a place for you.” 

He was going, not to a foreign country, but out of 
this material world unto the spiritual world of God. 
He was going into the Father’s house, into the resi- 


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE 371 

dcnce of truth. And that place is one which has 
‘'many mansions,’’ or as is rendered by other trans¬ 
lators, “ many abiding-places,” or “ dwellings.” “ In 
my Father’s house where I go, there are many abiding- 
places ”; therefore an abiding-place for each one of 
God’s children. And realize what this means,—not a 
temporary place,—but a place to stay. And there will 
be welcome for you there, because he goes to make 
ready for your coming. So why should one be trou¬ 
bled? Why should one doubt or question? Simply, 
Believe in God, believe also in the Christ.'* But Jesus 
does not leave it there, he makes it far more wonder¬ 
ful, far more complete, by uttering these most com¬ 
forting words: 

“ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will 
come again, and receive you unto myself; that where 
I am, there ye may be also.” 

So this departure is not to be final. He goes but 
to return again. And not only was he to return to 
them, but he was to abide with them always in the 
spirit, as he himself said in the very last words that 
he is supposed to have spoken to his disciples, as re¬ 
corded by Matthew, “ Lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world.” Or, as translated in the 
Margin of the Revised Version as well as in other 
places, “ Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the 


372 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

consummation of the age/’ Or again, “ I am with 
you all the days, till the full end of the age,”' and that 
is practically saying, throughout eternity.” And so 
does the Christ abide with us, with each and every one, 
forever. 

I will come again and receive you unto myself.” 
The Greek word for “ receive ” as used here has a 
distinct meaning, one that is fuller and more wonder¬ 
ful than the meaning we ordinarily attach to the word. 
In one sense the word means to take along ”; in an¬ 
other, “ to take to one’s side.” So this might read, 
I am coming again and will take you along with me; 
I will take you with me, by my side.” The beauty 
and the tenderness, the comfort of this thought are 
truly marvelous. Why, there is not a place in all the 
words of Jesus which indicates anything else than 
that he himself is a child of God, and that each one of 
us is also a child of God, and thus entitled to all that 
he is entitled to; side by side, together, as brother and 
brother. 

That where I am, ye may be also.” Jesus recog¬ 
nized the spirit and he dwelt in the spirit; or if you 
prefer, he dwelt in the spiritual life. With him the 
material life was almost entirely subordinated, at least 
with him it was secondary in every particular, and that 
is why he could do the works that he did. And there 

* Young’s Marginal Readings. 


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE 373 

in the spirit, or in that spiritual life, we may be also, 
alongside of him, walking with him. And as we walk 
with him he will show us more and more of the truth 
as we are able to receive it. Every one who has rec¬ 
ognized the coming of the Christ in his own conscious¬ 
ness realizes the truth of these statements. Looking at 
it from this point of view, we almost wonder that Jesus 
should say by way of introduction when telling his 
disciples where he was going,—“ Let not your hearts 
be troubled,’' when he might rather have said, “ Re¬ 
joice that I go.” 

** And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” 

In the Revised Version this reads, “And whither I 
go, ye know the way.” I imagine that the disciples 
missed the glorious truth expressed in these words; 
that they, at least most of them, did not understand 
what Jesus really meant, so imbued were they with 
the idea that he was going to another country where 
the Jews would not trouble him. Even we ourselves 
in these days find it difficult to grasp the full meaning 
of Jesus’ utterances, but as we enlarge our spiritual 
vision, so shall we advance in the understanding of the 
great truths of existence which he taught. We now 
hear from Thomas, who, it is evident, did not under¬ 
stand the meaning of Jesus’ words, for he says unto 
him: ' 


374 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how 
can we know the way ? ” 

It would seem from this question that Thomas 
thought that Jesus was actually going to make a jour¬ 
ney, perhaps to some distant country. Then Jesus an¬ 
swers his question with those wonderful words so 
well-known to every one: 

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man 
cometh unto the Father, but by me.” 

“ I am the way.” This is as though he were saying. 
It is not far off, it is not a question of distance. It 
is with me and is the way of the spiritual life and not 
the material. It is the way of truth.” This passage 
is similar in thought to those other words which we 
remember in the parable of the Good Shepherd, ‘‘ I 
am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be 
saved ”; and, “ I am come that they might have life, 
and that they might have it more abundantly.” 

He had said he was going to the Father, and so now 
he says, “No one cometh unto the Father, but by or 
through me” (R. V.). In all these instances he 
does not speak as the man Jesus, but as the Christ, 
the spiritual being. You see he is not referring to that 
life which is perceived only through the senses, but to 
the inward life, the life of the spirit. It is by this 


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE 375 

spiritual life only that men go ” to the Father. It 
is by the way of the truth only that men learn to know 
God; that they become acquainted with Him. And it 
was by this way that Jesus went to the Father. We 
say went,” but it is wholly metaphor; there is no 
“ going ” in the sense of actual motion. He shows 
that here when he says, “ I am the way.” It is only by 
that way, the spiritual way, that men approach and draw 
near to God. Men have tried multitudes of ways, and 
many, as the parable says, have tried to reach the fold 
by climbing up “ some other way ” instead of entering 
in by the door. They have tried some other method 
than the right one, some other life than the spiritual 
one. The way of Jesus is the way of truth and it is 
only by living that truth, being that truth, that men 
come into the presence of God. So Jesus continues: 

“If ye had known me, ye should have known my 
Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and 
have seen Him.” 

Or, we might say, “If you had really known and 
understood me, you would have known my Father 
also; but after this you will know Him, and you have 
already seen Him,” meaning of course through the 
spiritual vision. Perhaps we may interpret the last 
clause thus, “ You are already acquainted with Him 
through my teachings.” Jesus naturally did not mean 


376 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

that they had seen God in any way other than the 
spiritual way. 

What do we see when we look at our fellow beings ? 
We do not really see the man himself but only his outer 
form, the material body, so-called. The person him¬ 
self we do not see, and never can with these material 
eyes. When we look at our friends, at our chance 
acquaintances, at the people on the street, at even the 
thief or the murderer, do we see them as they really 
are? Certainly not! We see only the exterior of 
each individual. That which is really he is hidden 
from our physical sight. Our eyes are holden even as 
Thomas* were, even as were the eyes of the disciples 
during all those years which they spent with Jesus. 
Whatever we may truly know of the person at whom 
we look is through the inner vision. The divine, the 
spiritual being, the ** I am,** that exists in every child 
of God is seen or recognized only through the inner 
or spiritual perception. And that is the only way that 
we shall ever see God. Philip now joining the con¬ 
versation says unto Jesus: 

“ Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.** 

“ Show to us the Father, and it is enough for us,’* 
is a little closer rendering of the Greek. And so it is 
with us all, if we did but realize it. We are all hunt¬ 
ing for the Father. We are searching for God each 


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE 377 

in his own way, looking here, there and everywhere, 
up in the blue sky, through the meadows, among the 
green grass and the flowers, everywhere hunting for 
God, searching always for the Infinite Being. Whether 
we realize it or not, it is the one great quest and need 
of humanity. Jesus in response to Philip's statement 
says: 

“ Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast 
thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me 
hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then. Show 
us the Father?" 

“ Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou 
not known me ? ” Gentleness itself, and yet somewhat 
of a rebuke! During all this time had not some 
glimpse of the real nature of Jesus and of the truths 
which he had taught penetrated Philip's conscious¬ 
ness? If his spiritual perception had been truly awak¬ 
ened, Philip could not have spoken as he did. Jesus 
then makes a similar statement to the one he had just 
made in his answer to Thomas when he said, If ye 
had known me, ye should have known my Father also," 
for he now says to Philip, “ He that hath seen me hath 
seen the Father." And then he continues, with this 
profound question: 

“ Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and 
the Father in me ? " 


378 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


As he had said only a short time before, ‘‘ He that 
believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on Him that 
sent me. And he that seeth me seeth Him that sent 
me.” And again, “ He that receiveth me receiveth 
Him that sent me.” That is the language of Jesus 
from the very first. He always declared his unity or 
oneness with the Father. And when we turn to the 
scientific explanation of this, as we considered in the 
first chapter of this Book of John, we find that every 
human being is the child of God, not only Jesus the 
Christ, but every one. So each may realize this unity 
or oneness for himself. If we could only appreciate 
fully the truth of these statements when we utter them, 
letting that truth enter into our consciousness, if we 
might only stop long enough in our headlong haste, to 
get just a glimpse of its deepest meaning, we should 
be vastly different creatures from what we now are. 

“ The words that I speak unto you I speak not of 
(from—R. V.) myself: but the Father that dwelleth 
in me. He doeth the works.” 

/ 

Jesus had said a similar thing before, “ I have not 

spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me. He 

gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what 

I should speak.” It was God’s word that he was 

♦ 

speaking. And here in this very fact is the proof of 
what he had just said, that he is in the Father and the 


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE 379 

Father is in him. It was the same with the wonderful 
works which he had done and which we call his “ mir¬ 
acles,’’ for, as he says here, The Father abiding in 
me doeth His works (R. V.). And remember 
that other marvelous statement, “ The Son can do 
nothing of himself; but the Father loveth the Son, and 
showeth him all things that Himself doeth.” Read 
again that fifth chapter of John! What a revelation 
is there regarding the relation of the Father and the 
Son! So we see that Jesus has proved by his life, by 
what he has done, that he is in the Father and the 
Father in him. And the Father worketh through him 
to do His,—the Father’s,—work. What did he say 
about the man born blind? ‘‘ That the works of God 
should be made manifest, I must work the works of 
Him that sent me.” Paul also had a glimpse of this 
when he said, “ For it is God which worketh in you 
both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” It was 
in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus said, ‘‘ Let 
your light so shine before men, that they may see your 
good works, (notice, your good works), and glorify,” 
—here is the key of the situation,—“ and glorify,” not 
you yourself, but your Father which is in heaven.” 
The Father doeth the work. 

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Fa¬ 
ther in me: or else believe me for the very works’ 
sake.” 


380 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Or, according to another manuscript reading, “ Be¬ 
lieve me, because I am in the Father, and the Father 
in me; but if not, on account of His works believe 
me.” And so we come back again to almost the first 
thing that Jesus said on this occasion, Believe in 
God, believe also in me.” Believe in God, believe also 
in the Christ, and believe in the Christ within your¬ 
self. Believe in the Infinite Spirit, and believe in that 
spirit which was in Jesus. That spirit is in you also 
and it is the essential of yourself. Without it you 
are nothing, and without it there would be nothing. 
But God is, and God is All, and being divine, all His 
manifestations are also divine. That divine spirit was 
revealed in Jesus far more completely than in any 
other, but it is there in each one of us, ready to be 
revealed or expressed in its perfection, if we will but 
recognize it. 




XXVI 


THE ABIDING PRESENCE OF THE HOLY 

SPIRIT 

(John XIV. 12-26) 

In the conversation we are now considering, Jesus 
is preparing his disciples for his departure. Hitherto 
they had relied on him; his desire is to show them 
how to rely upon themselves when he shall be gone. 
As the conversation progresses Jesus tells them 
something of the relation existing between himself and 
the Father, referring again to the oneness of the two. 
And he asks them to, “ Believe that I am in the Fa¬ 
ther, and the Father in me; or else believe for the 
very works’ sake.” Next he tells them what will be 
the result of thus believing; something that has been 
much overlooked until the present day: 

Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth 
on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater 
works than these shall he do; because I go unto the' 
Father. 

‘‘ And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will 
I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

“If ye shall ask (me)* anything in my name, I will 
do it.” 

* In the Revised Version “the” is used instead of “my,” and 
it seems more in harmony with the teaching of Jesus. 

*In the King James Version “me” is omitted, but is found 
in the Revised Version and in other translations. 

381 


382 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


These are remarkable words, and they stand here as 
a promise to all mankind. They are uttered as simply 
as are all Jesus' declarations. They present the 
straight facts without limitations and without condi¬ 
tions, except the very important one of belief or faith. 
There is no question of any formality, no condition 
except the one, that ye believe in the Christ, or in the 
spiritual truths which he taught. Then, “ The works 
that I do shall ye do also; and greater works than 
these shall ye do." Simplicity itself and positiveness 
itself I Just the mere statement of a fact, without any 
expression of uncertainty or doubt, and without any 
expressions whatsoever as to how the work may be 
done. This is one of the prominent places where Jesus 
shows that he does not claim for himself one thing 
which he does not recognize as belonging to every other 
child of God without exception. 

Great stress has always been laid by the churches 
upon “ belief," and here Jesus lays the principal stress 
upon that word “ believe." And he is absolutely cor¬ 
rect, both philosophically and scientifically correct. It 
is a question of belief, and that alone. And it is for 
each individual to search himself and to find out 
whether or not he does really believe. No one else can 
tell, none but he alone. With belief or faith all things 
shall be accomplished; not only the works that Jesus 
did, but greater works than these," as he himself 


ABIDING PRESENCE OP HOLY SPIRIT 383 

said. And notice, it is real belief that determines the 
conduct, and not what people say they believe. There 
may indeed be a very wide difference between a per¬ 
son's actual belief and what he imagines he believes, 
but the results are always in accordance with the belief 
itself. We believe a man is an enemy, and we act in 
accordance with that belief, regardless of what our 
words may be. And it is the same with regard to 
the man whom we believe to be our friend; we act ac¬ 
cordingly, regardless of what we may say about it. 

There was one time when Jesus tested his disciples 
by saying to them, ‘‘ Whom say the people that lam?" 
And then he put the question directly to them, ‘‘ But 
whom say ye that I am ?" And Peter answered 
straight to the point, and apparently under the influ¬ 
ence of strong inspiration, ‘‘ Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God." And for that moment Peter 
believed it. But later, when doubt came into his heart 
and he believed in the power of the Jews more than 
he believed in the Christ, he denied Jesus. Peter did 
not quite know himself. And so, just in accordance 
with our belief do we act; and likewise, just in ac¬ 
cordance with that belief, is it unto us, as Solomon 
said centuries before, “As a man thinketh in his heart, 
so is he."' Not, “ so the conditions," not, “ so the 
circumstances," but “ so is he/' the man. As Jesus 


^Proverbs xxiii. 7. 


384 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

said in his great rule for prayer, ‘‘All things whatso¬ 
ever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received 
them, and ye shall have them/’ And it is just like 
that always. As we read this statement here the ques¬ 
tion is brought directly home to every one of us. Do 
we believe these words of Jesusf It is evident that 
the large majority of people do not, and therefore 
when they ask, they do not ask with entire faith. 

Then Jesus says, “ Whatsoever ye shall ask in my 
name, that will I do.” The first step in our asking 
is to believe in the Christ and his teachings, the next 
is to ask “ in his name/' We are to believe his teach¬ 
ings, otherwise we cannot ask in his name. This 
phrase “ in his name ” means that we are to ask in 
the spirit of Jesus, or according to his method. We 
are to ask as he asked when he asked of God. This 
means that when we pray we are to forget the outer 
self and the outer world, that is, the physical self and 
the material world. We are to pray or ask from that 
inner spiritual being which is the real or true self and 
without which we could not be, indeed could not even 
present this appearance in the physical world. 

To the people of those times, the phrase “ in his 
name,” meant far more than it does to us. We know 
how in business a man may have an agent, who does 
things in his name, and who does them as nearly as 
possible as his employer would do them. In that sense 


ABIDING PRESENCE OF HOLY SPIRIT 385 


we may think of the term as a mere legal form, but 
even so it may assist us to understand the deeper mean¬ 
ing really contained in these three words as used here. 
To the people of biblical times, the word “ name ” was 
vastly more than a mere designation as we use the 
word to-day; to them in those days it meant the man 
himself; the individual in his own personality; that 
which made him what he was. In reading the Book 
of Genesis, we find certain reasons for names bestowed 
on individuals and those reasons reveal some quality 
in the person, some peculiarity to do with that par¬ 
ticular individual. 

And so in those old Bible days their names were 
more than mere designations. People went beyond 
and deeper than the mere surface, searching into the 
essential characteristics of the person, when bestowing 
a name. Thus a close relationship existed between a 
man and his name. And sometimes names were 
changed to suit the changing traits of an individual as 
happened in the case of Jacob, whose name was 
changed to Israel; likewise, the name of Paul, the 
apostle, was originally Saul. 

We are, then, to ask in the name of the Christ; we 
are to ask as he asked, remembering what he was, the 
works that he did, the truths that he uttered, the words 
that he spoke. We are to believe in him as he really 
was, not so much as the man Jesus, but as the 


386 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Christ, the spiritual being which he manifested to the 
world. 

We marvel, as well we may, at the story of Jesus* 
works, and at his life, for that is a part of his works; 
we also wonder at his words, just in proportion to our 
failure to understand them. Some of his works are 
so incomprehensible that we call them “ miracles **; 
some of them are so wonderful that quite frequently 
the records are not accepted, even by so-called believ¬ 
ers, except with grave questioning and serious doubts. 
In fact many faithful followers hesitate at some of 
Jesus’ precepts, saying they are impossible of complete 
observance, as when he said, “ Love your enemies.” 
This means that they do not believe in that precept at 
least, whatever else they may believe. And so we 
might go on with other instances. 

Thus it is only too evident that we do not do the 
works that Jesus did. Yet he said, The works that 
I do shall ye do alsoT But even though we may stand 
in awe of all these things, even though they may seem 
to overpower us and we shrink back into our own 
self-condemnation, into our feelings of insignificance 
and unworthiness, and say that such works are impos¬ 
sible for us, yet the great rule already referred to, 
which Jesus gave us for prayer, is simple and plain 
enough: ‘‘All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, 
believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have 


ABIDINa PEESENCE OF HOLY SPIRIT 387 

them” These words are said to every individual; 
they are without qualification or limitation and it is 
intended for every child of God to follow them, just 
as that prayer which we repeat so often, beginning 
“ Our Father,” is meant for every child of God. These 
instructions are for each one of us. It is intended that 
we should do the works that Jesus did, should live 
the life that he lived. 

Take that great ethical precept which we call the 
Golden Rule: “ All things whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” This 
precept is not limited to the learned, to the wise, nor 
the good; indeed, it is not limited in any direction, but 
is intended for the observance of every one. And in 
this rule is embodied a perfect standard for right-liv¬ 
ing and right-doing. The fact is that if we really be¬ 
lieved in the efficacy of this one precept, we would live 
up to its teaching, and earth would be a heaven. And 
in following this one precept, we should put ourselves 
in the place where we should do greater works even 
than Jesus did when he was here, as he himself affirmed 
when he said, ‘‘And greater works than these shall ye 
do.” We puzzle ourselves as to what he meant by 
“ greater works,” in our thought limiting them to the 
miracles of healing which he did. But I believe that 
Jesus' meaning was more inclusive even than that, was 
indeed far more wonderful than that, and was intended 


388 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


to include every phase of life, and especially the rec¬ 
ognition and understanding of even greater truths. 

‘‘ Because I go unto the Father.” Why were his 
disciples to do greater works because he went to the 
Father? There may be some unexplained reason for 
this statement which we are not aware of, but there is 
one thought in connection with it which may give some 
aid to its interpretation. His going to the Father at 
least meant the laying aside of materiality, the putting 
away or discarding of the human element. We know 
that human nature is inclined to worship personality, 
that it feels the necessity of something tangible in its 
relations with life. Jesus in going to the Father freed 
himself entirely of the personal or human self. As 
he said in the parable of the Good Shepherd, he could 
lay down his life and could take it up again. And he 
did lay it down, and in laying it down, he deprived his 
disciples of the opportunity of worshipping that side 
of him, of clinging to the merely personal. We have 
in Jesus' teachings a mass of declarations with a star¬ 
tling individuality running through the whole of them, 
that is beyond the individuality of any merely human 
writer. It is beyond the genius of ordinary humanity 
to produce so varied a number of precepts, at once 
striking, original, and consistent, as Jesus has given us. 
But the man himself is gone, and gone utterly from 
our material vision, so that we have no alternative but 


ABIDING PRESENCE OF HOLY SPIRIT 389 


to worship the spirit; and it is the spirit we are to 
worship and naught else. 


‘‘ If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.** ‘ 


Throughout the world there are vast numbers of 
people who say they love him, and yet say they cannot 
keep his commandments, that indeed it is impossible to 
live up to them. Yet Jesus never asks us to do the 
impossible. 

First he tells us that if we believe in him we shall 
do the works that he did, even greater works. Then 
he says that whatsoever we may ask in his name, that 
will he do. Now he says that if we love him we shall 
keep his precepts, not because they are commandments, 
but because we love him. This is clearly set forth in 
the Sermon on the Mount when he says that our right¬ 
eousness must exceed the righteousness of those who 
do the right on account of the law only. We are to 
do the right because we love him, and loving him in¬ 
cludes loving the truth that he taught. We are to do 
the right because it is right, and because we love to do 
it, and in doing those things we love to do, there is 
no law. Law disappears. 

* Revised Version. This is the correct rendering. In the 
Greek it is not a command, “Keep my commandments,” but a 
statement, “Ye will,’' etc. Compare with verses 21 and 23, and 
John XV. 10, 


390 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

‘‘ And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you 
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for¬ 
ever/* 

There is an interesting connotation to this word 
“ pray,*’ or rather to the Greek word of which this is 
a translation. '‘Ask** is considered by some to be 
nearer the Greek than " pray ”; and in the Margin of 
the Revised Version we find it translated, “ I will make 
request of the Father.** At any rate, the word as used 
here does not mean " beseech ’* in the sense of a sub¬ 
ordinate begging of a superior, but more as if an equal 
were addressing an equal, and this is in harmony with 
Jesus* words: " I and the Father are one.** 

Jesus told us to pray without a doubt in our hearts. 
He said,—and I cannot repeat the words too often,— 
"All things whatsoever that ye pray and ask for, be¬ 
lieve ye have received them and ye shall have them.** 
And so here he says with as great faith, " I will pray 
the Father, and He will give you another Comforter.** 
There is not the slightest sign of any expression of 
doubt in these statements, any more than when he 
said, "Ask, and it shall be given you.** He is going 
away; he is separating himself from his disciples. He 
has told them not to be troubled. Jesus recognizes 
the human side of this separation, as occurs with us 
when a friend leaves us. And now he says to en¬ 
courage them, that the Father will give them another 


ABIDING PRESENCE OF HOLY SPIRIT 391 


Comforter. He has been their Comforter during the 
past three years, and now that he is leaving them, he 
tells them that the Father will give them another 
Helper. And this Helper is to abide with them for¬ 
ever, is, indeed, to abide with us forever. And in our 
asking, if we “ believe that we have received,'^ we thus 
become conscious of the presence of this Helper. 
Many recognize it as the inner voice.'" 

We can well understand how dependent the disci¬ 
ples were upon Jesus and what a Comforter he must 
have been to them, just as we in our imaginings may 
recognize what a blessing it would be to us if he were 
only here now in the flesh. We think what a delight 
his presence would be to us and how much better we 
could be under such a close influence. Yet he says 
here, The Father shall give you another Comforter.” 

The word ** Comforter ” according to its derivation 
means some one called alongside for help ”; it is also 
translated Helper ” in the Margin of the Revised 
Version and in other places. We are to remember 
that no man taught freedom as Jesus taught it; no 
man left his followers free as he left them free. When 
he had told the people the most vital of truths, and they 
not understanding him, had gone away and left him, 
Jesus then turned to the twelve disciples and said, 
** Will ye also go away? ” That to me is one of the 
intensely pathetic incidents in his career. He exer- 


392 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

cised no authority over them in that crisis, for it was 
a crisis; he left them free, as he always did, to do the 
things they pleased without interference from him. 
And so here he promises them another Helper, but 
not one who thrusts his help upon them. Ah, no! 
The Comforter referred to by Jesus is one to be 
called alongside for help ’’ when wanted or needed; 
one standing there always, never intruding, never dom¬ 
inating, never controlling, but ready when called upon, 
with abundance of power and infinite ability,—ready 
to help. 

“ Another Comforter, that he may abide with you 
forever; 

“ Even the Spirit of truth.” 

Bven the Spirit of truth ”—thus Jesus defines the 
one called alongside for help. And in verse twenty- 
six of the next chapter we find the same expression 
used, But when the Comforter is come, even the 
Spirit of truth.” Also a little farther on he says, 
‘‘ When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide 
you into all truth.” And then again in verse twenty-- 
six of this chapter we are now considering he says, 
“ But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom 
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things.” The better rendering of the Greek is 
** Holy Spirit ” and it is so translated in the Revised 


ABIDING PEESENCE OF HOLY SPIRIT 393 

Version. So we have here these expressions meaning 
the same thing,—Comforter, Spirit of truth. Holy 
Spirit (or Holy Ghost). We look upon them fre¬ 
quently as entirely distinct, but they are really one in 
their meaning. In the story of the baptism you re¬ 
member how John the Baptist saw “ the Spirit of God 
descending upon Jesus.” This is according to 
Matthew’s report. Mark simply says, as does John in 
this Gospel, that he saw the Spirit descending upon 
him.” Luke’s version is that the Holy Ghost 
(Spirit) descended upon him.” All use the same 
word,— Spirit. 

We know how on several different occasions Jesus 
told his disciples that they would be in trouble, that 
their lives would be in danger, and they would have 
to defend themselves, that is, they would have to make 
explanations why they did thus and so. . And on one 
such occasion as Matthew reports it, after telling them 
not to give thought as to what they shall say, for in 
that same hour it shall be given them what they shall 
speak, Jesus concludes his advice to them by saying, 
“ For it is not ye (meaning the material personality) 
that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speak- 
eth in you.” " And Luke states that Jesus on a similar 
occasion tells them not to be anxious as to what they 
shall say, for in that very hour ‘‘ the Holy Spirit shall 

‘Matt. X. 20 . 


394 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

teach you what ye ought to say.” Thus we see that 
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, or the Holy Spirit, 
are all different names for the Spirit of God. To 
continue: 

“ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can¬ 
not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth 
him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and 
shall be in you.” 

Another rendering of the Greek might read: “ Even 
the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, or 
is not able to receive, because it sees it not, that is, 
does not recognize it; but you know it, because it 
abides with you and is in you/' By the world ” is 
meant the world of materiality or the physical world. 
We, as human beings, do not see life anywhere; we see 
only its physical manifestations. It is impossible that 
the eyes of flesh should see that which is of the spirit. 
So the physiologist searching for life in materiality 
and finding it not, frequently comes to the conclusion 
that this physical manifestation is all there is, and con¬ 
sequently that there is no existence hereafter. But 
those who have been in that retired place of themselves, 
which is the inner spiritual self, have perceived the 
truth and have communed with the Holy Spirit. Those 
do not need the testimony of natural science, nor any 
aid beyond their own spiritual perception, for they 


ABIDING PRESENCE OP HOLY SPIRIT 395 

know that there in that secret place they were face to 
face with God. 

Thus this world of materiality does not see or know 
that Spirit of truth which is the Spirit of God." Yet 
this Spirit of truth is in close relation to that inner 
spiritual self which is the reality of each individual,— 
the spiritual being. If we go back to that great phi¬ 
losophy of life and existence, the doctrine of the 
Logos, as set forth in the first chapter of this Book of 
John, we see how absolutely true these words are: 
“ The Light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness 
comprehended it not. That was the true Light, which 
lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” And 
yet every man being free, some seek alone and in the 
darkness, and find not that light which would be a 
lamp unto their feet and a guide beyond all the wisdom 
of the earth. Yet it is there, shining in the darkness, 
and waiting to be revealed, because it is that “ true 
Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world/' 

“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to 
you. 

“ Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; 
but ye see me.” 

After his death the world would see him no more, 
but they, his disciples, would see him. And they did 

‘ Sec I Cor. ii. 14 , and context. 


396 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


see him for a brief time, forty days as the record says, 
and to that fact the world has clung for over nineteen 
hundred years. And principally because of that one 
great fact of the resurrection the words of Jesus have 
been preserved, until now the dawn is appearing and 
we are beginning to understand; are beginning to let 
the light shine in our hearts, to let the truth speak in 
ourselves. 

“ Because I live, ye shall live also.” 

Because I am able to manifest to you the true life, 
which is the spiritual life, so shall you be able to do 
also. And because I am able to enter in to the eternal 
life, so shall you also be able to overcome this earth 
life and to enter in to that eternal life. Because Jesus 
showed the world at that time and has been showing 
it ever since, that life lives and does not die; because 
we have seen and known that he lived after so-called 
“ death,” therefore have we come to believe in im¬ 
mortality, in the eternal life of the spirit. 

“ At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, 
and ye in me, and I in you.” 

‘‘ At that day,” that is, when you come into the rec¬ 
ognition of the eternal life, into the recognition of the 
power of life over death, then shall you understand 
the perfect oneness of the Father with His children; 


ABIDING PRESENCE OF HOLY SPIRIT 397 


then “shall you know that I am in my Father, and 
ye in me, and I in you/' 

“ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth 
them, he it is that loveth me." 

And remember we are to exclude in our under¬ 
standing of the word “ commandments," all idea of 
authority, domination, or control in connection with 
its meaning. Although we may obey his command¬ 
ments to the letter as far as all outward appearances 
go, yet we do not really keep them unless we do so 
because we want to; because we choose or desire to 
keep them. If we keep the commandments under com¬ 
pulsion just because it is right to obey them, we are 
keeping them in the letter only. The position which 
Jesus takes here is far beyond all thought of compul¬ 
sion, as he taught always the principle of absolute free¬ 
dom. The idea is,—he that has accepted his com¬ 
mandments or his precepts with an understanding 
heart, and is endeavoring to live in accordance with 
them, he it is who really loves Jesus. It is just as he 
had said a few moments before, “ If you love me, you 
will keep my commandments." 

“ And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Fa¬ 
ther, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to 
him." 


398 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Words that are remarkable for their beauty, and for 
the intense meaning which they must convey to who¬ 
ever reads them understandingly. 

If a man love me, he will keep my words: (notice 
he does not use the term commandments ” here) and 
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, 
and make our abode with him.” 

This is but a repetition of thoughts already ex¬ 
pressed, though in a slightly different form, and with 
an added intensity, a deeper meaning, for Jesus now 
says, JVe will come unto him, and make our abode 
with him.” 

He that loveth me not keepeth not my words; and 
the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's 
who sent me ” (R. V.). 

“ These things have I spoken imto you, being yet 
present with you. 

“ But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom 
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I 
said unto you ” (R. V.). 


XXVII 


THE TRUE VINE 
(John XIV. 27-31; XV. 1-8) 

In the East, in the time of Jesus, and in fact, even 
at the present time, the expression used between friends 
at parting is, ** Peace be with you/^ And so Jesus 
says to the disciples with him at the Supper at the 
time of his farewell talk with them: 

** Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: 
not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” 

And then he continues: 

** Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
afraid (fearful—R. V.). 

“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, 
and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would 
rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for the 
Father is greater than I.” 

When we take into consideration the circumstances 
of this farewell, it is nothing short of wonderful. 
Jesus stood in the shadow of the cross. He knew that 
in a few hours at the most, his arrest would take place, 

to be followed by all the tragic after-events; and yet 

399 


400 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


notwithstanding all this, he uttered these comforting 
words to his disciples, My peace I give unto you.’’ 
That he could talk to them of his own peace at such 
a time would seem the more remarkable to us if we 
did not understand the great faith underlying his every 
word, and even his entire course of action at all times. 
We know that the average man under such circum¬ 
stances would be preparing for flight. And Jesus 
might easily have gone away, might have escaped to a 
place of safety, as he had done on two or three other 
occasions when danger was threatening. But matters 
were now in such a condition that to flee would be a 
disgrace, and not only that, but such a course at this 
time would be a decided hindrance to the acceptance 
of his teachings. It would be to shirk the issue, for 
the crisis of his entire life was now imminent. Any 
avoidance of that would make impossible the resurrec¬ 
tion and its great and marvelous lesson. It is evident 
that he had been conscious of this for some time. Only 
a short time before, he had said, I can lay down my 
life, and I can take it up again,and I have no doubt 
he could have done so even then, as he did at the last 
when all appearances of materiality vanished as he as¬ 
cended into heaven. Thus we know he might have 
evaded all that lay ahead of him; but in doing so he 
would also have fallen short of the grand culmination 
of his career. He would have failed to achieve that 


THE TRUE VINE 401 

which is known as the demonstration of the future life 
and which was a practical proof of immortality. 

Here in this farewell talk with his disciples he seems 
to be trying to give them some understanding of that 
which was so soon to come to pass. He seems to 
have been raised far above them. I think that Jesus 
recognized at this time that as a result of his teachings 
there should come ultimately, a peace that the world 
did not then dream of, and indeed hardly realizes even 
now. He gave of this peace, not only to his disciples, 
but to the whole world because it is for every one. 

And not so much his peace was he leaving with 
them, as the knowledge how to attain to that peace, 
which is in fact already ours by divine birthright, be¬ 
cause it is of the peace of God, and so is for all man¬ 
kind. It is as free as the air we breathe, absolutely 
free, and is entirely within the grasp of every indi¬ 
vidual. As Jesus said at the beginning,—the king¬ 
dom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is within you. 
This kingdom is indeed within each one but each per¬ 
son must look within himself if he is to find it. And 
in so doing, guided by the truth, there shall come the 
recognition of heaven, and that perfect peace to which 
Jesus attained. 

So why should their hearts be troubled? Why 
should they be afraid? And why also should our 
hearts be troubled ? It is only our recognition of the 


402 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


temporal things,—those things that pass away as the 
mists of the morning disappear from the mountain 
tops,—that causes us to be disturbed. It is our 
thoughts of separation, of our own loss, of what we 
miss, that trouble us. 

Once more Jesus says to them, “ I go away, and 
come again imto you.” Then he tells them that they 
should rather be glad that he is going away, for he 
says, ‘‘If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I go 
imto the Father.” Rejoice at the separation, at the 
seeming loss to them? No, not at that, not at their 
loss, their own sense of separation, but rejoice as we 
should rejoice when a friend leaves us for better sur¬ 
roundings, better conditions; for higher and greater 
things. And if we truly loved our friends we should 
rejoice when they go to a higher and better life, be¬ 
cause of the greater good, the greater happiness com¬ 
ing to them. As Jesus said to his disciples here, “ The 
Father is greater than I.” And he was going to that 
Father, was going to a better life in every way; thus 
it was an occasion for their rejoicing. And in this 
rejoicing is foimd both peace and comfort. And so 
will it be with us when our friends depart from us, 
unless we are too much immersed in our own selfish 
thoughts of ourselves, and of what we want, of what 
we shall miss, and of what we shall lose. We all weep 
at the death or the “ going aw^ay ” of loved ones, and 



THE TRUE VINE 


403 


wc say it is because we loved them so.” That is our 
excuse. But Jesus meant that if they really loved him 
there would be no weeping, but instead would be re¬ 
joicing because he was going unto the Father, and to 
perfect peace and happiness. 

. “ And now I have told you before it come to pass, 
that, when it is come to pass, ye might (may—R. V.) 
believe. 

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the 
prince (or ruler) of this world cometh, and hath 
nothing in me.” 

The prince of this world was already on his way, 
was already laying his plans by which he hoped to 
overcome the wonderful teachings of Jesus, hoped to 
put down and out forever this man and the strange 
things that he taught. He was, however, walking in 
the darkness and stumbling as men do stumble when 
they try to walk in darkness. But this prince of evil 
has nothing in common with this man of truth, who 
lived the life of truth and whose teachings shall endure 
forever. And out of the truth which he taught springs 
that which shall ultimately overwhelm and destroy all 
darkness, and all evil. 

“ But that the world may know that I love the 
Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even 
so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” 


404 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Although this passage is found in the manuscripts 
at this place, I am inclined to the opinion that these 
were the last words of Jesus at the Supper. They 
are peculiarly appropriate as the last words on that 
occasion, and yet it may be that there was some con¬ 
versation after this, not recorded here, which suggests 
and introduces the following parable. We can im¬ 
agine them reclining around the table after the Supper, 
and conversing for a considerable time, wandering 
from one subject to another and yet continually re¬ 
turning to the one thought, that of his going away. 
Then Jesus begins: 

“ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husband¬ 
man.” 

In the fifth verse he says, “ I am the vine, ye are 
the branches.” Thus Jesus in these words of his in¬ 
cludes every one. In this metaphor there is but one 
vine, of which we are the branches; the Father, and 
himself the Christ, and “ye” yourselves; or, the hus¬ 
bandman, the vine, and the branches, those branches 
that are the offshoots of the vine and which have 
sprung from the main body of the vine, including the 
little soft tendrils which have not yet come to ma¬ 
turity. The husbandman is the one who plants the 
vine. He is the creator so to speak, and it is because 
of him and his action or rather it is through him, that 


THE TRUE VINE 


405 


the vine with its branches lives and grows and has its 
being. Literally, a husbandman is he who puts the 
seed into the ground, having prepared the ground be¬ 
forehand, and who watches the springing up of the 
plant and cares for it as it develops. When neces¬ 
sary he drives stakes into the ground for its support 
or fastens it to a trellis, keeping it in order. This is 
the husbandman’s part. 

But beyond all this, if we wish to look a little deeper, 
there is the life in the seed. As John words it in his 
philosophy, ‘‘ That which hath been made was life in 
Him ”; so the life in the seed is of His life, is of the 
life of the husbandman. Thus the life of the vine 
is of God’s life, just as the life of you is of God’s life. 
And that life is the vital principle in every vine; it 
lives and grows in the vine, continuing out into the 
branches. It produced the vine and it made the 
branches grow. 

“ Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he 
taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he 
purgeth" it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 

‘‘ Now ye are clean through the word which I have 
spoken unto you.” 

Jesus had said, ‘‘Ye shall know the truth, and the 
truth shall make you free.” So now he says, “Al- 

" “ Cleanseth,” Rev. Ver. and “ prunes,” Young, or as in Young’s 
Marginal Readings, “ he doth cleanse by pruning it.” 


406 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

ready ye are clean through the word which I have 
spoken unto you, or because of the truth I have spoken 
unto you.” And the truth is of God, and it lives and 
manifests in you, if you will but let it. And as the 
truth makes free, so truth also purifies. The fruit of 
irxipurity is imperfection always. Then he continues: 

“ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot 
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more 
can ye, except ye abide in me.” 

This is one of the numerous instances where Jesus 
so beautifully expresses that spiritual oneness which 
he realized as existing between himself and all God's 
children. 

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that 
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth 
much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” 

Jesus here is referring to the Christ of himself, to 
the spiritual being of himself. The rendering of the 
Revised Version is, He that abideth in me, and I in 
him, the same beareth much fruit; for apart from me 
ye can do nothing,” or as interpreted by Young, “be¬ 
cause severed from me you can do nothing.” And 
that is literally correct because when apart from the 
Christ, we are severed from the truth, and can there¬ 
fore accomplish nothing. Thus we see that to abide 


THE TRUE VINE 


407 


in Jesus the Christ really means to abide in the truth. 
And we can never entirely separate ourselves from the 
truth, just because of the existence of that oneness 
underlying all spiritual life which Jesus endeavored to 
explain to us, and which binds together all God’s crea¬ 
tures, though many are totally ignorant of it. 

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a 
branch, and is withered; and men gather them, (the 
branches)’ and cast them into the fire, and they (the 
branches) are burned.” 

Or as I interpret this passage: If a man abide not in 
the truth,—meaning of course the material or earth 
man, he who is subject to sin, because the spiritual man 
must ever abide in the truth,—^he, the sinful self, is cast 
forth like a branch that is withered. These branches 
are gathered and cast into the fire, and are burned. 
Notice, the whole vine is not subjected to the fire. The 
fire does not determine the good or bad. The branch 
is already separated from the vine. It is dead, there¬ 
fore useless. It might as well be burned to be out of 
the way. 

Thus the branch that is not of the truth, that is lack¬ 
ing in fruit, is cast away. How ? Let us see. How 
is it with you when you recognize the unprofitable- 

* In the Greek “ them ” is neuter gender, referring to 
“ branches.” 


408 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


ness of the error you are pursuing? You bring judg¬ 
ment and condemnation yourself upon that error, you 
purge it from yourself, you cast it away. When the 
light of truth within you has shown you the true char¬ 
acter of the evil, then you cherish it no longer, and 
facing the issue squarely, you cast it off and away from 
you. So this is what Jesus means when he says here, 
“ men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and 
they are burned.’’ 

We have been taught from early life to fear this 
fire; it has been held up to us as a terror, as a thing to 
be greatly feared, as if it referred to “ the fire of 
eternal punishment,” so-called. But as I interpret this, 
it simply means that a man’s sins or bad habits are to 
be cast from him like a branch that is withered. When 
we understand the eternal truth of God, when we 
understand His infinite love, we shall realize that in it 
there is no room for fear; instead, there is all that the 
heart of man could desire. 

And all that is not in harmony with God’s love, all 
that is not in harmony with His truth, you yourselves 
will eventually cast away when you recognize the 
truth, when you know that God is Love. For in the 
midst of all your desires and greater than them all, 
whatever they may be, is the desire for God’s love, 
even though you may not be conscious that this is so. 
And so finally are we purged of all sin, cleansed from 


THE TRUE VINE 


409 


all impurities, until that cleansing results in perfection. 
Jesus then utters one of his most wonderful of all 
statements, embodying a truth frequently expressed 
by him in various forms: 

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye 
shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.'' 

If we abide in the Christ, if the truth abides in us, 
we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us. 
Truly he speaks as no man ever spoke before. We 
utter these words with our lips, not half realizing the 
depth of their meaning; and even if we do realize their 
fullest significance, it is but for a short time. We 
very soon turn our thoughts to something else, because 
we think we must attend to the affairs of this world; 
and we say we have not the time for both. So the 
words of Jesus abide not with us. After a little there 
comes another season of rejoicing, another brief 
recognition, and then another lapse, and so on. But 
to “abide" means to stay/^ ‘‘If ye abide in me, 
and my words stay in you, then you shall ask what you 
will, and it shall be done for you/' Again it is just as 
Jesus said,—“ He that believeth on me, the works that 
I do shall he do also; and greater works than these 
shall he do." But, we are first to live in the truth and 
let the truth live through us, then, ask for what we 
wish. It shall be given us. We can readily see that 


410 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

under such conditions there will be no asking for wrong 
or sinful things. We shall not even desire them. 

We say much, we talk learnedly and wisely, yet we 
do not do the works Jesus told us to do. And we 
wonder why. Here is the reason why. Here, too, 
is the reason why Jesus could heal as he did. And 
here is the method by which he healed, and by which 
we may heal if we will, and healing every time without 
a thought of failure. Merely this, live the truth, abide 
in the truth, then ask for what you will and it shall be 
done for you. Therefore, we are to do the right, 
speak the right, be the right. That is all. Let wrong 
of every kind disappear; turn it away; let it alone; 
prune yourselves; cut off the branches that are un¬ 
fruitful of truth; abide in the truth of the Christ. 
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteous¬ 
ness, or rightness, and then all these things shall be 
added unto you. Enter into the retired place of thy¬ 
self, locking the door against all intruding thoughts, 
and there face to face with God, pray to Him, to the 
Father, who seeing in that secret place, will give to 
thee in the clear light. And there shall be no failure 
anywhere. Ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be 
done'^ (R. V.). 

Some say this stands here in the Bible as a promise. 
We may call it that if we wish, but it is no more a 
promise than if I were to tell you that, holding a stone 


THE TRUE VINE 


'411 


in your hand, if you should turn your hand over and 
let the stone drop, it would fall to the ground. There 
is no promise in that. It is merely a statement of an 
accepted fact, of a natural law. So with this state¬ 
ment of Jesus, it is far more than a promise, it is a 
statement of truth in harmony with the principles of 
science, of a law that knows no turning, no deviation 
from its God-given course. 

There is also one other thing to remember in con¬ 
nection with this, and that is, his great rule for prayer: 
‘‘All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe 
that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.” 
We are to believe, to have faith. And he who abides 
in the truth, who is living the truth, will have faith, 
and will have it more and more. And so Jesus comes 
to this conclusion: 

“ Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” 

That is, by abiding in the truth, you will bear much 
fruit, and so will show that you are indeed his dis¬ 
ciples. And thus is the Father glorified. 


XXVIII 


LOVE 

(John XV. 9-27; XVI. 1-4) 

“ As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; 
continue (abide—R. V.) ye in my love. 

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in 
my love; even as I have kept my Father’s command¬ 
ments, and abide in His love. 

“ These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy 
might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

“ This is my commandment. That ye love one an¬ 
other, as I have loved you. 

“ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 
lay down his life for his friends.” 

We reach the zenith of Jesus’ teaching here in these 
words, and it is appropriate that they should occur at 
this place which is so near the close of his ministry. 
Jesus spoke also at other times of love. It was at a 
very early point in his career that he said, “ Love 
your enemies ”; and when asked what the greatest 
commandment of the law was, he said, “ Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy 

strength; this is the first commandment. And the 

412 


•LOVE 


413 


second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself.”" These words coupled with those under 
immediate discussion are his most important on the 
subject of love, and we may take them as the keynote 
of his whole teaching. Jesus said many things which 
lead up to this subject. There is his doctrine of for¬ 
giveness, but great as it is, it is subordinate to his re¬ 
markable teachings on the subject of love. We do 
however recognize that a lofty pinnacle was reached 
in his peculiar teachings regarding forgiveness, for he 
taught that complete forgiveness which puts away,— 
puts out of mind,—all discordant thinking concerning 
another, leaving only love in the heart for that other. 
So the things that Jesus said regarding forgiveness 
may be considered among his greatest utterances. 

In order fully to understand this, we must reduce 
this term to its simplest meaning, for, although we 
have many definitions of forgiveness yet the mind may 
be vague as to what the word itself really means. It 
stands in its simplest form as meaning just "" letting 
go, putting away” In other words it means simply 
the putting away of the discordant thought, whatever 
that thought may be. And taken in its entirety, that 
is, in its fullest sense, it means nothing less than the 
discarding of all discordant thoughts. 

We say, ‘‘ Our Father which art in heaven, forgive 
‘ Mark xii. 30 , 31 ; Matt. xxii. 37-39* 


414 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” meaning, 
“ Forgive what we owe Thee,—put out of Thy mind 
our indebtedness to Thee ,—as we have put out of our 
mind the indebtedness of others to us.” In other 
words, forgive us as we have forgiven. And in the 
last analysis this means the putting out of every dis¬ 
cordant thought whatever. So Jesus said to his dis¬ 
ciples, Love your enemies,” and if we have forgiven 
as we would be,forgiven, we are then indeed ready to 
love even our enemies; for, if we have truly forgiven, 
we have put out the thought of the injury, whatever 
it may be, that we have harbored in our mind con¬ 
cerning them; we have put out of mind all discordant 
thoughts with regard to them, and this means all 
thoughts of hate, of anger, of dislike or repugnance, 
even all thoughts of aloofness. And because we have 
done this so completely there is left in our minds only 
the image of the true child of God, that child which 
is made in His image and likeness. It is thus that 
we come into the realization and recognition of the 
fact that each one is a child of God and therefore 
each is our brother. So also it is thus that we mani¬ 
fest that we are really His children. 

Jesus constantly emphasizes the need of forgiveness. 
But although forgiveness is one of his greatest pre¬ 
cepts, and bears a close relation to all his other precepts, 
and although he said that forgiveness or remission 


LOVE 


415 


of sins should be preached throughout the world, we 
see that it is but secondary to this greater precept of 
love. It is absolutely impossible to maintain in the 
mind at the same time two opposite, conflicting 
thoughts regarding another. Love and hate, love and 
dislike, love and the sense of having been injured by 
some one, cannot occupy the mind at the same time. 
When we are truly loving a person we cannot hate 
him, because there is then no room in our hearts for 
hate. The thoughts of hate or dislike present in the 
mind effectively prohibit love. Probably there has 
never yet been a person who, reading with thoughtful¬ 
ness for the first time, Jesus’ advice regarding the 
loving of enemies, has not felt that it was impossible 
to follow. And most probably, without giving further 
thought to it, that person has cast aside the idea as an 
utter impossibility. And, I grant you, it is an im¬ 
possibility; we cannot love an enemy so long as we 
consider him an enemy, so long as we hold in mind 
the thought of enmity against him. 

It seems to me that a condition of complete for¬ 
giveness is necessary to complete happiness. I doubt 
if we can truly love God and continue to have an ap¬ 
prehension that some one is our enemy. Indeed I 
believe that the love which we owe to God for having 
loved us, necessitates the clean, pure heart, necessi¬ 
tates complete forgiveness towards every one,—the kind 



416 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


of forgiveness that is indicated in our Lord’s Prayer 
when we say, “ Forgive us our debts as we forgive 
our debtors.” So we are to exclude the discordant 
thought and just in proportion as we do exclude all 
such thoughts are we able to love our enemies. You 
remember that John in one of his epistles says, ** How 
can we love God whom we have not seen if we love 
not our brother whom we have seen.” Jesus placed 
love of God first, but he placed love of our brother 
next, and he said one was'like unto the other. And 
with loving our brother will come the recognition of 
that unity of relationship which Jesus said existed be¬ 
tween our fellow beings and ourselves. 

Jesus says much of love in this last conversation of 
his; and you remember that after Judas went out to 
betray him, Jesus said to those who were left, “A 
new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one 
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one 
another.” It is, ''As 1 have loved you ”; and, “As 
the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.” It 
is with a love like the Father’s love that Jesus loves 
us, and it is with a love like this that he wishes us to 
love one another. In connection with this we may re¬ 
member how he told us to call God "Father,'' and 
how here on this last solemn occasion when he speaks 
more frequently of the Father than at any other time, 
he as often calls Him “ the " Father as he does “ my " 


LOVE 


417 


Father; thus recognizing that we also are God’s chil¬ 
dren. And if, as Jesus says, we are God’s children, 
then we are like unto Him, and thus are capable of 
manifesting that perfect love towards all His children 
that Jesus desired us to manifest. All this is not be¬ 
yond our ability; we may of ourselves exercise those 
divine qualities which God bestowed on us when He 
gave us the great gift of eternal life. 

You know how Jesus defined that love when he 
said, “ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth 
them, he it is that loveth me.” And, so here he says, 
“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my 
love.” If we love him of course we will keep his 
commandments; thus the seeming harshness, the dic¬ 
tation, the domination of that word “ commandment ” 
disappears, for it is not an order, it is not a command, 
as we understand the meaning of the word. The com¬ 
mandments or precepts of Jesus are his own peculiar 
teachings or statements of truth, which he has given 
us to live by. He never commands us but instead 
always leaves us free. And in the keeping of his 
commandments or precepts, as we see and understand 
them, we are simply following the truth, God’s own 
truth, and it is thus that we best manifest our love 
for Jesus. And then as he said, not only will the Fa¬ 
ther love us, but the Father and the Christ will make 
their abode with us. Then indeed will we realize the 


418 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


meaning of the words, ‘‘ The kingdom of God is 
within you.” 

Jesus then says, These things have I spoken unto 
you, that my joy might remain in you, arid that your 
joy might be full.” He had spoken to them of peace 
when he said, “ Peace I leave with you, my peace I 
give unto you,” and now, while standing here at the 
very culmination of his career, he speaks of joy, tell¬ 
ing them that he is speaking these truths unto them 
that his own joy may abide with them, so that their 
joy may be complete; or, as in the Revised Version, 
“ that my joy may he in you, and that your joy may 
be fulfilled/' And this will come to pass through the 
outpouring of that divine love about which he has just 
been telling them. 

And again Jesus says, ‘‘ This is my commandment. 
That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” But 
see how the idea of a command has been softened by 
his presentation of the thought of joy, for he has just 
said, “ These things have I spoken unto you, that your 
joy might be full.” We do not obey a command with 
joy, unless we understand and so accept it, thus obey¬ 
ing because of our own joy and pleasure in doing so. 
When we do understand, our natural impulse will be 
to respond, and then not only joy is present with us, 
but the greatest peace as well. 

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 


LOVE 


419 


lay down his life for his friends.” When we truly 
love, in this human way of ours, we are willing to 
part with anything for the one we love. We are will¬ 
ing to do anything for that one. But Jesus goes be¬ 
yond that, for his declaration includes the offering of 
life itself for one’s friends, meaning of course, this 
present or earthly life, for that is the only life that 
can be “ laid down.” And so he continues: 

“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
you (that is, if you obey whatsoever precepts I have 
given unto you). 

“ Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant 
knoweth not what his lord (or master) doeth: but I 
have called you friends; for all things that I have 
heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” 

The servant is looked upon as the subordinate. To 
him is not submitted the reasons for things. A little 
more in accordance with the original Greek might 
read, “ The slave has no conception of what his lord 
doeth.” He is not called upon to understand; it is 
not a part of his work. But it is the part of a friend 
to understand, for he is the one who assists, the one 
who is a companion, a comrade. And so Jesus calls 
us “ friends/* And he said that all things that he has 
learned of God, he has made known unto us. Also 
there comes to us through our understanding of the 
truth that perception by which we know something of 


420 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


what the Father Himself doeth. In the fifth chapter 
of John we remember that Jesus said, “ The Son can 
do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father 
do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth 
the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, 
and showeth him all things that Himself doeth.'’ 

It is in doing the things that Jesus taught that we 
proclaim our realization that we are God’s children, 
and that we attain to the recognition and the under¬ 
standing of even greater truths than those we now 
perceive, for there are yet undiscovered and unreal¬ 
ized truths waiting for our cognizance whenever we 
are ready for such knowledge. It is intended that we 
should understand these things, and that we should 
have the perception, the clear sight, that is necessary 
for all progress. But so long as we are blinded by 
unforgiveness, by hatred and all such discordant 
thoughts, just so long do we keep ourselves from the 
discernment of greater truths. 

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, 
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth 
fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that what¬ 
soever ye shall ask of the Father in my name. He may 
give it you.” 

The rendering of the Revised Version is somewhat 
-nearer the Greek: “ Ye did not choose me, but I chose 


LOVE 


421 


you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear 
fruit, and that your fruit should abide.” I chose you 
that you should go out from me and bring forth fruit. 
And by “ fruit ” he means the fruit of service, the 
fruit of love and of truth, of the shining of that light 
which is within you, and which you are always to let 
shine to, the glory of God the Father. Bearing such 
fruit as this, the results of which shall be lasting, or 
shall remain and not perish, you shall ask of the Fa¬ 
ther whatsoever you will and He will give it to you. 
But remember, Jesus says, “ ask in my name,” mean¬ 
ing, we are to ask as he himself asked, with perfect 
faith. 

These things I command you, that ye love one 
another.” 

“ These things I command you, that ye may love 
one another,” is the rendering of the Revised Version. 
And this might be interpreted to read: These things 
I give into your keeping, these principles I entrust with 
you, these things I commend to you, so that you may 
love one another.” 

We remember how Jesus told Nicodemus in that 
interview with him, '' That which is born of the flesh 
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” 
We have recognized all the way along how he marks 
the distinction between spirit and flesh. Here in 


422 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

speaking of love he is speaking of the spirit only. But 
now he turns to the other side. He does not make 
it all a bed of roses.” He tells them what to do and 
he explains to them the difficulties of their work, and 
the troubles that will come to them. And we find 
similar instructions given in the tenth chapter of 
Matthew when he sent out his disciples. 

“ If the world hate you, ye know (know ye—R. V. 
Margin) that it hated me before it hated you. 

If ye were of the world, the world would love his 
(its—R. V.) own: but because ye are not of the world, 
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the 
world hateth you. 

Remember the word that I said unto you. The 
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have 
persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they 
have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” 


“If ye were of the world, the world would love its 
own,” that is, if you were akin to the world of error 
and wrong, that world of materiality would love you, 
you would be popular with it, but because you are not 
of that world, but instead of the spiritual world and I 
have chosen you for the spiritual life, therefore the 
world hateth you. Error or evil does its utmost to 
destroy truth. That is the nature of evil. It knows 
its own, but it does not know the truth, does not un¬ 
derstand the truth. Thus again, “ That which is born 


LOVE 


423 


/ I ' • 

of the flesh is flesh, and that which is bom of the 
Spirit is spirit,” and so it is always, and always will 
be, until error and all wrong disappear. 

‘‘ But all these things will they do unto you for my 
name's sake, because they know not Him that sent me.” 

And this because they know not God, who is the 
Absolute Truth, from whom the Christ sprang, and 
of whose substance the Christ is. They know not any 
more than darkness knows the light. So it is always 
the flesh to the flesh, loving and caring for the things 
of the flesh, and the spirit to the spirit, loving and 
caring for the things of the spirit “ For my name’s 
sake ” or as in the Greek, on account of my name,” 
that is, on account of the truth which I have taught. 
All these things will they do unto you because of their 
hatred of the truth and “ because they know not Him 
that sent me.” They know not God who sent the 
Christ, therefore they do these things. And of this 
Jesus had warned them repeatedly. But in his telling 
them about the destruction which should come to 
Jerusalem, and how they should be persecuted, and the 
things that should be done unto them, he said, not a 
sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’s 
knowledge, and not a hair of their head should perish. 

Truth is eternal; truth never comes to an end, but is 
immortal and everlasting. Thus no truth is or ever 


424 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

can be lost; if it could be, then God Himself might be 
lost, for all truth is of Him. And the true being of 
every child of God is as immortal as truth itself. 
Then although ‘‘ these things'' may come to one, yet 
there is no real loss and can be none, as we would 
know if we but had the understanding, if we but rec¬ 
ognized fully and completely this fact,—that only that 
can be lost which is perishable and not eternal. You 
know how Jesus said, “If ye loved me, ye would 
rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father.” He 
was not to be lost to them and it was his great desire 
that they should understand this. 

“ If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had 
not had sin: but now they have no cloak (excuse— 
R. V.) for their sin.” 

If the truth had not been revealed, if their errors 
had not been brought to their notice, there would have 
been no recognition of sin, but now they have no ex¬ 
cuse for their sin. They have been shown the error 
of their ways. 

“ If I had not done among them the works which 
none other man did, they had not had sin: but now 
have they both seen and hated both me and my Fa¬ 
ther.” 

“ If I had not done among them the works which no 
other one had done, they would not have had sin; but 


LOVE 


425 


now they have even seen them, and yet have hated 
both me and my Father,” is the rendering given by 
Wilson for this passage. Jesus had spoken the truth 
to them. A man does not suffer in his conscience for 
the wrong thing he did when he did not know that it 
was wrong. One may follow a certain course for a 
period of time with no recognition of error in connec¬ 
tion with it. He may even think his course to be the 
right one, even to the extent of thinking such a course 
to be his duty. He sees in it no sin whatever. Thus 
he may be saved for a time from self-condemnation 
but he cannot be saved from the consequences of the 
sin itself. The fruit of wrong is more wrong and 
this is always the case. 

“ But this cometh to pass, that the word might be 
fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me 
without a cause.” 

j 

Another rendering reads: “Thus they verify that 
word which was written in their law, They hated me 
without cause.” And it is always so. Truth never 
gives cause for hatred, and yet even in our own days 
men have been hated for doing good and have even 
been persecuted in like manner as was Jesus and his 
disciples, although there was no cause for the hatred, 
no cause for the persecution. Jesus himself recog¬ 
nized that this hatred was all without a cause, but he 


426 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


also recognized that it originated through their igno¬ 
rance, their lack of understanding. 

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will 
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of 
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall 
testify of me: 

“ And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have 
been with me from the beginning.” 

But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to 
you from the Father, the Spirit of truth which comes 
forth from the Father, he will testify of me. And you 
also will testify, because you are with me from the 
beginning,” is another rendering of this passage. 
“ But when the Comforter is come,” and remember 
the true definition of that, as previously discussed,— 
the one called alongside for help” Which pro- 
ceedeth from the Father,” or as given in the Margin 
of the Revised Version, '' goeth forth from the Fa¬ 
ther.” This is not to be taken in the meaning that we 
perhaps might attach to it, as when one man goes out 
from another on that other’s mission; the Greek word 
as used here is much more intimate in its meaning. It 
means something more than “ comes away from.” It 
means comes out of” The Spirit of truth comes 
out of, proceeds from the Father; it originates with 
Him and is one with Him, and also it is inseparable 
from Him. It does not leave Him (any more than 


LOVE 


427 


the thought leaves the thinker when expressed by him 
to another) ; that would be an impossibility for God 
is infinite and therefore all. And so the Spirit of 
truth, the Comforter, is of God, and “ shall testify of 
me. 

“ These things have I spoken unto you, that ye 
should not be offended.” 

The Greek word which is here translated “ of¬ 
fended ” means “ to cause to stumble.” In the Re¬ 
vised Version the passage reads: “These things have 
I spoken unto you, that ye should not be made to 
stumble,” that is, that ye should not stumble on the 
road you are walking, through failure to understand 
these things that I have told you. 

“They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, 
the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think 
that he doeth God service.” 

Such is the blindness of error, such is the hate of 
sin; and such was the hatred of those who killed Jesus, 
that they thought they were doing God service. And 
in these days men kill each other in our various wars 
because they think that it is right under the circum¬ 
stances so to kill. Two nations fight to destroy each 
other, each with the opinion that it is right in so doing. 
All this happens because of ignorance, because of not 
knowing the truth. 


428 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“And these things will they do unto you, because 
they have not known the Father, nor me. 

“ But these things have I told you, that when the 
time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of 
them.” 

✓ 

Jesus is trying to open their eyes, trying to show 
them what they must face. Yet around and about, en¬ 
veloping the whole, even almost hiding the error from 
sight, is the great truth which he taught concerning 
forgiveness and love. If these have been fully ex¬ 
pressed, through our recognition of the truth, then the 
result is great tranquillity and peace like unto the peace 
of Jesus; while through and above all will shine su¬ 
preme joy and perfect love. Love that loves even 
enemies. Love that loves to such an extent that it 
does not recognize enmity, does not recognize evil, 
that passes even beyond the thought of evil,—that di¬ 
vine love with which Jesus loves, and with which God 
the Father loves us. If that enters into the heart, if 
that vivifies us, then all trials and difficulties are but 
minor matters. Indeed one of the great results of 
such love is the gradual overcoming of all trials, all 
difficulties. 


XXIX 


GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT 
(John XVI. 5-16) 

Jesus has told his disciples that he is going away, 
and has referred to the tribulations which shall befall 
them. He has told them that the Comforter, which 
is the Spirit of truth, will come to them after he is 
gone. They have not interrupted the conversation for 
some time, and now he says again to them: 

“ But now I go my way to Him that sent me; and 
none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 

But because I have said these things unto you, 
sorrow hath filled your heart.” 

Jesus had said to them, “If ye loved me, ye would 
rejoice, because I go unto the Father.” He recog¬ 
nized their failure to understand the deeper meaning 
in these words, and he recognized also their sorrow. 
So he attempts to comfort them, speaking more clearly 
and more specifically concerning the Comforter than 
he has done before. 

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient 
for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, 
I will send him unto you.” 

429 


430 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Why is it better for them that he should go away? 
Here are these men who had followed him through 
these three years, who had been his almost constant 
companions, who had listened to his words, had wit¬ 
nessed his wonderful works, who had continued with 
him when many had turned from him. It would seem 
almost necessary that he should continue to be present 
with them to guide them farther, and lead them to a 
deeper knowledge of the truth. But he says, ** It is 
expedient that I go.” That is, My going away will 
be advantageous for you.” He meant that in the 
end it would prove to be for their best good. And 
why? 

The going away of Jesus so far as the man him¬ 
self was concerned, that is, the going away of the 
personal man, was complete. Of the man Jesus, the 
visible person, there was nothing left. Even the per¬ 
sonal life of the man, so far as we know it, is prac¬ 
tically lost to us. There is nothing certain about the 
time of his birth. We may be fairly well satisfied 
regarding it, and yet we do not know the date beyond 
question. The same uncertainty continues until the 
day of his crucifixion. The personal incidents and 
events connected with the life of Jesus are gone; that 
is, they are gone beyond the domain of positiveness. 
We should be glad to celebrate the day of his birth, 
but instead, we celebrate a purely arbitrary day, a day 


GUIDANCE OF THE SPIEIT 431 

which has come down to us from an old Roman holi¬ 
day. And the day of his rising, the day of the resur¬ 
rection, which was perhaps an even greater event than 
the day of his birth, even that is lost to us. We can 
conjecture, and we do celebrate that day every year, 
but it is a movable festival, coming one date one year, 
and another date another year. So we see that the 
man, the human being, has gone away effectually. 
Therefore, we must turn to the spiritual, because what 
remains to us, in the words that we have, is of the 
spiritual man. These teachings have fixed the identity 
of Jesus, his individuality, his existence, beyond ques¬ 
tion. This body of precepts proves conclusively that 
such a man did live, and that he perceived God’s truth. 
All this remains to us. But the other, the material 
being, is gone, has disappeared completely. 

We know very well the tendency of the human mind 
to worship personality. And it was, I believe, as be¬ 
fore stated, just this worship of the person, this de¬ 
pendence on his personal self which Jesus wished to 
prevent in the lives of his disciples. It was the spir¬ 
itual life which he wished them to consider, and I 
think he felt that the time had come when they could 
the better do this if he took his personal self away. 
And so we are to consider, and we do consider, not 
so much the man Jesus, as the spiritual Christ, whose 
life is best expressed by his utterances, his teachings. 


432 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


The whole Christian world is to-day learning of this 
teaching and has been so learning for nineteen hundred 
years and more. 

So here is the great reason, as it seems to me, why 
it was better for the disciples that Jesus should go 
away; it was that the purely personal should be re¬ 
moved, for that attracts unduly. Jesus saw that in 
order to have the spiritual teaching, that teaching of 
the absolute truth which he had given them, come 
prominently into their hearts and direct their lives, it 
was necessary that he should leave them. 

For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come 
unto you.” Simply because in the attention to the per¬ 
sonal the Comforter would not be called for. In other 
words if Jesus remained with them they might not 
realize their need of the Comforter or Helper. In the 
devotion to personality we turn from the contempla¬ 
tion of spiritual things to the consideration of material 
things, and so the Comforter would not be called on 
for help. 

But if I depart, I will send him unto you.” And 
it is true that thousands, nay untold numbers, have 
recognized the presence of this Comforter, in their 
trials, in their questionings and doubts, as .well as in 
their triumphs and in the positiveness of their recog¬ 
nition of the truth. And Jesus defines here as he had 
not before, what the Comforter should do, for he says:' 


GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT 


433 


“And when he is come, he will reprove (convince 
or convict)^ the world of sin, and of righteousness, 
and of judgment/’ 

“ Reprove ” is well used here in relation to sin, but 
how reprove the world “ of righteousness and of judg¬ 
ment ” ? The word here translated “ reprove ” is a 
difficult one to render into English because of its some¬ 
what broad meaning. It means to disprove, to show 
forth, to convict through questioning; it means to con¬ 
vince by examination. And the word that is trans¬ 
lated “ of,” is sometimes translated “ concerning.” 
Thus a closer rendering of the Greek might read: “And 
having come, he will convict the world concerning sin, 
and concerning righteousness, and concerning judg¬ 
ment.” So the Comforter will help to decide, will 
bring light upon, these questions of sin, and of right¬ 
eousness, and of judgment. 

Who has really and sincerely asked for light on any 
subject, and sought it with confidence, who has not 
found it? Somewhere and at some time, if one has 
sought sincerely and earnestly, he has found the solu¬ 
tion of his problem, the answer to his question. To 
him has come the vision, if you please, of the truth 
with regard to that questioning. So with the Helper 
alongside comes the recognition of the truth. Some- 

* ** Convince ” is one rendering, while the Revised Version 
reads, “ Will convict the world in respect of sin.” 


434 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


times it comes by degrees, little by little, but some¬ 
times all at once in a lightning flash the whole ques¬ 
tion is revealed and the answer of days or weeks or 
months, perhaps even of years, has been seen in an 
instant of time. And so the Comforter speaking 
through the light of truth eventually shows us the true 
conditions and the way of continual progress. 

But how does the light of truth reach sin which lies 
in a domain entirely apart from truth? It reaches it 
just as light discovers darkness, and in the discovery 
the darkness falls away. We have all experienced this 
in our attempt to live the right life, in our attempt to 
do the right thing. As we have recognized clearly 
one error in our course, in our conduct, it is as though 
a veil were drawn away, and our understanding shines 
directly upon another which we may once have be¬ 
lieved to be right or perhaps were doubtful about, but 
which now we see to be distinctly wrong. So the light 
of truth shines through our questioning, convincing 
our understanding, revealing the true character of the 
error. 

In relation to the word ‘‘ sin,” as we have already 
explained, we should not restrict its meaning simply 
to those actions or conditions which we count as sinful. 
The word is a more comprehensive word than that for 
it includes within its meaning all error, from the black¬ 
est sin,—even the worst that can be conceived of,—^to 


GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT 


435 


the slightest error of thought or action. The word 
‘‘ sin ” in its original meaning did not mean at all what 
we mean in our present-day use of the word; it meant 
merely a failure to hit the mark.” And is that not 
just what sin is after all in whatever form we may 
find it ,—a failure to hit the mark? 

A little understanding of this question will help us 
to be less severe in our judgment of our fellow man 
as well as of ourselves. We may and should condemn 
the wrong wherever we find it, but there should be no 
condemnation of our brother in his failure to take the 
right course. With charity in our hearts we may find 
many excuses for the one who has so failed. Per¬ 
haps he was seeking to do the best he could under the 
circumstances. It may be that his instruction was er¬ 
roneous so that he could not see clearly the shining of 
the light of truth. He may have believed that to be 
truth which was not truth, that to be right which was 
not right, and so when he acted he failed to hit the 
mark, that was all. And we shall see that that is the 
way with all wrong, if we will but look at ourselves 
and others without animosity, without condemnation, 
and without the hate and intensity of feeling which 
attends condemnation. But the light of truth shining 
through the error will disclose it for what it really is, 
so that gradually we shall see and know its true char¬ 
acter. 


436 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


** And of righteousness, and of judgment.” As our 
knowledge of the truth increases, so is developed our 
understanding of sin or wrong, and our judgment of 
the same. So also is developed the true spirit of right¬ 
eousness, which means rightfulness, and in a larger 
sense, godliness, holiness. So the Comforter comes 
to lead us into a true understanding of the real char¬ 
acter of good and evil, that we may cling to the one, 
as we shall when we are convinced of its character, 
and reject the other when we are once really convinced 
with regard to that. 

The word judgment ” has been to many a word 
of terror. It has frightened untold numbers of hu¬ 
man beings into right doing, or rather has frightened 
them away from wrong doing, but in the last analysis 
it signifies merely a distinguishing, a deciding. At 
least that is the meaning of the Greek word which is 
here translated judgment.” It is a question of de¬ 
ciding or choosing. And do you not see how very 
simple it is, after all? The recognition of the truth, 
through the light shining within ourselves, illuminates 
our understanding so that we may choose, and choose 
rightly. And when we choose, that is, when we rec¬ 
ognize and know the wrong, and knowing it to be 
wrong reject it, then that is the true judgment. And 
so this Comforter is to be called to our assistance when¬ 
ever there is a doubt, an uncertainty, as to the right 


GUIDANCE OP THE SPIRIT 


437 


course for us to take, so that the judgment, the choice, 
may be more nearly accurate, and the condemnation of 
and the exclusion of all wrong more nearly complete. 

“ Of sin, because they believe not on me.” 

When the Comforter is come he will convince the 
world of its sin or mistake in that it believed not in 
the Christ, that it believed not in the truth. We be¬ 
lieve not in the truth because of our own blindness, 
because we do not understand; we do not see and com¬ 
prehend clearly, that is all. And so often we follow 
the wrong because we think that particular wrong is 
right. The Decalogue says, “ Thou shalt not kill.” 
Jesus says, ‘‘ Love your enemies, and do good to them 
which hate you ”; and also, “ This is my command¬ 
ment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” 
In loving there is no thought of killing, for love 
makes alive, invigorates; love is unselfish. And yet, 
take the one instance of war between nations and wit¬ 
ness the spectacle of two great nations deliberately 
setting out to kill as many human beings as they can, 
and thinking they are doing God's work. And each 
nation so involved thinks its own country is in the 
right and doing the right thing. We may not wish 
to call this sin, but surely it is a failure to hit the mark 
through a lack of understanding. 


438 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ Of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and 
ye see me no more.’" 

Because Jesus goes to the Father and they will no 
more see him in the flesh, the Comforter, or Spirit of 
truth, will come to them and will enlighten them re¬ 
garding all things that pertain to the truth. Thus will 
they understand the true spirit of righteousness and of 
judgment. Not the spirit of self-righteousness as ex¬ 
emplified by the Pharisees, not the “ I am better than 
thou ” spirit, but righteousness in the meaning or sense 
of the word rightfulness. Jesus had been constantly 
teaching them regarding these things, and now the time 
had come when they were to be masters of themselves, 
and were to take up the work of instructing others as 
he had been instructing them. 

“ Of judgment, because the prince of this world is 
judged.” 

A rendering which is somewhat closer to the Greek 
reads: “And concerning judgment, because the ruler 
of this world has been judged.” There must be a 
clear understanding, a clear vision of the character of 
sin and the character of truth, in order that our judg¬ 
ment may be accurate, so that we may, each one of 
us, reject from ourselves the error which we see within 
ourselves. Jesus in his words here meant that the 
Comforter will help us to exercise this correct judg- 


489 


GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT 

ment on all necessary occasions. But the prince or 
ruler of the world of evil is already judged, even of 
itself is evil judged; evil does not need our judgment, 
because when let alone it vanishes into its own nothing¬ 
ness. We are to exercise judgment merely that we 
may distinguish between the right and the wrong, be¬ 
tween the good and the evil, rejecting the evil and re¬ 
taining the good. 

‘‘ I have yet many things to say imto you, but ye 
cannot bear them now.” 

That is, you are not ready for them now, you cannot 
sustain or absorb them now. This is always so. We 
cannot accept all truth at once. But the recognition 
and acceptance of one truth puts us in the position to 
see more clearly and to accept the next truth, and so 
on to a broader and larger vision. They were not 
ready for more at that time, and yet he was leaving 
them. But he tells them of one who will be there in 
his stead. Not a person, but a vital living spirit. 

“ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truth.” 

And the Comforter is the Spirit of truth, as Jesus 
said. When the Spirit of truth is come into your con¬ 
sciousness it will guide or lead you into all truth. Do 
we turn to this Spirit of truth with the confidence that 


440 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


we should? Do we recognize it and follow it as we 
should? More than that, do we question it as we 
should? For we are to question, we are to examine, 
each fresh revelation of the truth, that our understand¬ 
ing of the right may thus be increased; and the more 
we question, the more we examine, the clearer shall 
be our recognition. And so, also, the more we un¬ 
derstand the character of evil, and finding it in our¬ 
selves shall discard it, the greater will be our progress 
in the pathway mapped out for us by Jesus. Eventu¬ 
ally will all evil be entirely purged away, for there is 
in every man, hidden away perhaps because he has not 
looked for it, that truth which is of God’s own truth. 

“ For he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever 
he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you 
things to come.” 

In this same conversation at the time when Jesus 
first mentions the Comforter he used similar words 
when, speaking of himself he said, “ The words that I 
speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father 
that dwelleth in me. He doeth the works,” and “ The 
word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which 
sent me.” So it is with the Comforter or Spirit of 
truth, it is really God Himself speaking through the 
inner spirit. The rendering of the Revised Version at 
this place is, “ For he shall not speak from himself; 


GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT 


441 


but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he 
speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that 
are to come.’' 

“ He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, 
and shall show it unto you. 

“All things that the Father hath are mine: there¬ 
fore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show 
it unto you.” 

In the Revised Version the rendering for these two 
verses reads: “ He shall glorify me: for he shall take 
of mine, and shall declare it unto you. All things 
whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, 
that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you.” 

“ He shall glorify me.” He shall glorify the Christ. 
This means that the Spirit of truth will glorify the 
Christ, for it will receive or take of that very truth 
which is God’s truth and therefore the Christ’s, for, 
as Jesus says here, “All things that the Father hath 
are mine.” And this truth shall the Comforter show 
or declare unto you. 

The infinite truth of the Father, as portrayed by 
the Christ, resides in the heart of every human being, 
dimly or brightly shining according to the attitude of 
each towards it, and this Comforter, of which Jesus 
speaks here, leads and directs each child of God into 
a clearer perception, a deeper knowledge of this truth. 


442 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


And I venture to say that eventually all men will be led 
to glorify the Christ within, and all will glorify Jesus 
the Christ, for no man has ever earnestly sought the 
truth and seeking it has sought to understand the 
teaching of Jesus, who has not been led to glorify him 
as the great exponent of all truth. 

This is the mission of the Comforter, of the Spirit 
of truth, which is the Spirit of God. And this Holy 
Spirit is not afar off but is always near, always close 
at hand for every one of us, if we will but cultivate 
our recognition of it. Therefore it is with us now, 
with us in the silence and darkness of the night, with 
us in the brilliancy of the noonday sun, on the crowded 
pavement, or in the quiet of the deep woods, with us at 
every moment and in every place, always ready to help, 
always ready to be questioned. And this is not a 
vague, uncertain, dim ghost of a thought, but an ac¬ 
tive, living, conscious reality which we may recognize 
and understand if we will and may always call to our 
aid. An ever-present help for every human being, in 
every time of need! 


XXX 


THE PRAYER 
(John XVL 16-33; XVIL 1-19) 

Jesus continues his conversation w’ith his disciples 
in relation to his going away, saying to them: 

“ A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again, 
a little while, and ye shall see me, (because I go to the 
Father)/ 

Then said some of his disciples among themselves, 
What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and 
ye shall not sec me: and again, a little while, and ye 
shall see me: and. Because I go to the Father? 

They said therefore. What is this that he saith, A 
little while? we cannot tell what he saith. (We know 
not—R. V.) 

** Now Jesus knew (perceived—R. V.) that they 
were desirous to ask him, and said unto them. Do ye 
inquire among yourselves of (concerning—R. V.) that 
I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and 
again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep 
and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall 
be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 

‘‘ And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see 
you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy 
no man taketh from you.*^ 

* The words “ because I go to the Father ” do not occur in 
the best manuscripts and are omitted in the Revised Version. 

443 


444 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Throughout this remarkable conversation Jesus re¬ 
fers to the joy that is to come. There may be sorrow 
at the present time, but he most emphatically affirms 
that joy shall be theirs later on, even the joy that can¬ 
not be taken away from them. They are to enter into 
and possess such joy as is like unto his own, an abun¬ 
dant gladness which shall fill one to the brim, even as 
he had said a short time before, “ These things have 
I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, 
and that your joy might be full.” 

** And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.” 

“ In that day ye shall ask me nothing.” In the 
Greek, “ me ” is the emphatic form, and the verb “ to 
ask ” is not the same as the word in verse twenty-four. 
In verse twenty-three, the first “ ask ” is commonly 
used in the sense of to ask questions.” Thus, ‘‘ In 
that day ye shall ask me no question,” and this is the 
rendering given in the Margin of the Revised Version. 
In that day of great joy therefore, there will be no 
need of asking questions of Jesus. Hitherto they had 
been wholly dependent on him. They had looked to 
him more than to the Father. But with Jesus’ earthly 
mission accomplished, they will commune directly with 
the Father. 

“ Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall 
ask the Father in my name. He will give it you. 


THE PRAYER 


445 


“ Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, 
and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full ” (that 
is, complete). 

Jesus has talked much to them on the subject of 
asking or praying. He has especially instructed them 
concerning the true methods of prayer. Now he 
speaks again concerning it, using merely a different 
form of expression than when he first said, ‘‘Ask, and 
it shall be given you.'’ Under all his statements con¬ 
cerning prayer we find the same underlying principle: 
ask and receive, or, ask for whatever you wish and it 
shall he given you. When Jesus says, “ Whatsoever 
ye shall ask the Father in my name. He will give it 
you,” he means just that, “ He will give it you.** And 
when he says, “ Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my 
name** he means that they have not yet asked as he 
asks, or in his manner of asking, that is, with the neces¬ 
sary faith and understanding. If in our praying we 
remember Jesus and his prayers, his great faith, his 
complete understanding, we shall better comprehend 
what it means to ask “ in his name.” 

“ These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: 
but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto 
you in proverbs, but I shall show (tell—R. V.) you 
plainly of the Father.” 

Jesus has been speaking much to them in the form 


446 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

\ 

of proverbs or parables, figures of speech, but the hour 
is coming when he shall no more speak thus but will 
tell them more plainly about the Father. Many of 
his deepest truths were uttered in the form of para¬ 
bles or narratives, little stories that conveyed a clearer 
meaning because of their very simplicity. He thus 
told them things that could not be told abstractly, or 
if so told, might fail of reaching the mark. We have 
an illustration of this in the parable of the Prodigal 
Son, a tale of such sweetness and strength, such sug¬ 
gestiveness of the truth, as is hardly to be found else¬ 
where. This story has touched millions of hearts, 
conveying the truth as probably no plain-spoken lesson 
would ever have done. 

But Jesus says an hour cometh when he will speak 
no more in proverbs but will tell them plainly of the 
Father. And it is in connection with this that he says 
the Comforter is coming, the Spirit of truth, that will 
lead them into all truth. Jesus knew that this Spirit of 
truth would reveal to them the great truths of God 
so clearly that there would be not a shadow of doubt 
in their hearts. And this is intended for every one, 
because God has no secrets from any of His children. 
What He does and is, is for us to know and under¬ 
stand if we will. You remember that Jesus said, ‘‘ The 
Father showeth the Son all things that He Himself 
doeth.” “ The Son ” here refers to the spiritual child 



THE PRAYER 


447 


of God. We do not know all these things now, be¬ 
cause we do not understand now. And it is true there 
are many problems which we cannot solve as yet be¬ 
cause we have not fitted ourselves to receive the truths 
concerning them. But I believe absolutely, that in all 
good time, there shall come to us from the Father, 
the knowledge by which we shall one day perceive and 
understand all truths. Philosophers, wise and learned 
men, speak much about the undiscoverable, the un¬ 
knowable, that which is beyond the reach of man’s 
intelligence and hidden from him, but Jesus the Christ 
told a different story. We find this beautifully ex¬ 
pressed by him in one of his prayers: “ I thank Thee, 
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast 
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast 
revealed them unto babes: even so. Father; for so it 
seemed good in Thy sight.” ' 

“ At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say 
not unto you, that I will pray (make request of—R. 
V. Margin) the Father for you: 

“ For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye 
have loved me, and have believed that I came out from 
God ” (came forth from the Father—R. V.). 

“ At that day ye shall ask in my name,” that is, as 
I ask, in fullest faith and understanding; and I do not 


^ fiuke X. 21. 


448 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


say that I will then make request of the Father for 
you, for the Father Himself loveth you ”; that is, 
in that day you will not need that I shall pray the Fa¬ 
ther for you, because He,—loving you as He does, 
—will grant that request which you yourself,—hav¬ 
ing now learned how to ask,—^have made directly of 
Him. 

How often in the past we have been to God in 
prayer with wrong thoughts in our hearts, thoughts of 
condemnation and regrets, with doubts as to the re¬ 
sults, and as to whether He will even hear us. We 
have not had even the confidence of the little child. 
Would we not go with confidence to a friend, to one 
we know and have known to be our true friend, being 
certain that he cares for us and is able and willing to 
do the things we ask of him; would we not go to him 
with great confidence because knowing so well his love 
for us? How much more then should we go to the 
heavenly Father with confidence and with faith! 

Frequently in the old days we were taught that He 
is a vengeful, wrathful, angry God; a just God, even 
if merciful. Let us be grateful that the day of such 
teachings is practically past. He is a God of love, 
and He loves us and hears us at all times. Jesus ai¬ 
rways throughout his teachings laid great stress on the 

fact of the Father’s love for us. And if we would 

» 

but realize what this love really means, our whole 


449 


THE PRAYER 

attitude towards Him would be changed. We should 
then go to Him in all prayer as He would have us go 
to Him, without a doubt in our hearts, but knowing, 
recognizing, perceiving, that the things we are asking 
for are already ours. Then would come to us such 
wisdom and understanding as we do not now dream of. 

‘‘ I came forth from the Father, and am come into 
the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the 
Father. 

“ His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou 
plainly, and speakest no proverb. 

“ Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, 
and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this 
we believe that thou earnest forth from God.’' 

Jesus had told them several times before in this con¬ 
versation substantially the same thing, in different lan¬ 
guage to be sure and in a somewhat different connec¬ 
tion but practically the same thing, and they had not 
understood. Now they seem to understand. Is it 
not often so? A thought is presented to us many 
times over, and perhaps repeated for a year in vary¬ 
ing phrases, and we do not understand, until finally the 
intended meaning is perceived by us. We even read 
the words of Jesus over and over again, possibly dur¬ 
ing a long life, and we do not understand them, until 
suddenly in a chance moment, there comes a flash of 
recognition. It is frequently thus that the human 


450 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

mind works. And so there came this flash of recog¬ 
nition at last to the disciples of Jesus. And Jesus an¬ 
swered them: 

Do ye now believe ? 

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that 
ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall 
leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the 
Father is with me.” 

Jesus was strangely alone on the human side; in¬ 
deed, the loneliness of his life here on earth is most 
pathetic. We realize this as we read this conversa¬ 
tion through from beginning to end, and we particu¬ 
larly notice it in the questions of his disciples when 
they so frequently question him of trivial things when 
Jesus is speaking of great things. How even they con¬ 
tinually misunderstood him! And yet no one is really 
alone, for the Father in His infinity is with every one. 
It is just as Jesus said here, ‘‘And yet I am not alone, 
because the Father is with me.” Nearness does not 
express this presence of the infinite God. It is more 
and greater than mere nearness, for if we have the 
open eye to see, and the open ear to hear, we know that 
He is everywhere, within us as well as around us. 
Within the retired place of our inner selves we may 
find Him and commune with Him there. We are 
alone often on the human side, but not alone in real¬ 
ity, because God the Father is with each one of us. 


THE PRAYER 


451 


“ These things I have spoken unto you, that in me 
ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have trib' 
ulation: but be of good cheer (or, take courage); I 
have overcome the world.” 

I have told you these things that through me you 
may have peace. Why does Jesus speak of peace? 
They are going to be scattered; the terror is imme¬ 
diately at hand; the night is upon them, the night of 
darkness and of error. Peace under such circum¬ 
stances ? He has been talking to them about peace and 
joy from the very beginning, the peace that passeth 
understanding and the joy that shall be complete, even 
the peace and the joy that filled his own heart. Why? 
Because of the presence of God in his life and because 
of the understanding in his heart of these great truths 
of God. 

He says, “ In the world ye shall have tribulation.” 
And is it not so? Because of this very world and its 
doings, we have fear, distress, and lack of peace. Yet 
of this material world Jesus says, Take courage, be 
of good cheer, I have overcome this world.” And in 
connection with this we may quote his wonderful words 
in the fourteenth chapter, when after telling them of 
the Comforter he said, “ Peace I leave with you, my 
peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give 
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither 
let it be afraid.” 


452 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


1 have overcome the world/* What a statement 
to make under the circumstances that were impending! 
Within twenty-four hours he would be hanging from 
the cross, deserted by all but a few, his work appar¬ 
ently a failure, the world triumphant over his down¬ 
fall. Yet he stood there in the glory of the truth, say¬ 
ing that he had overcome the world. As indeed he 
had! For I believe that even at that time, with great 
darkness hanging over him, that Jesus comprehended 
that darkness, seeing through the appearance of error 
and wrong to the light beyond; that he divined even 
his own resurrection and understanding it, realized that 
truth shall prevail. And in that resurrection is the 
very proof of his words here, the import of which has 
sounded down through all the ages since. He had and 
did overcome the world of materiality and death. 
Then if that be so why are we so unbelieving now? 
Why can we not take his simple statement here, and 
accepting it, know that the world is overcome, and that 

truth is triumphant now and always ? 

♦ 

“ These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes 
to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify 
Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.” (Rev. 
Ver. reads, “ that the Son may glorify Thee.”) 

“ Glorify Thy Son; the hour is come.” The time 
is near, and Jesus is looking out into the glory of the 


THE PRAYER 


453 


perfection of God, the Father; and looking too for the 
glory of the Son, asking, not for himself alone, for 
the burden of this prayer is for others. Though he 
stood there within an hour of arrest, and within so 
short a time of his death, yet his prayer was not for 
himself but it was for all men. 

Who is the Son, the Son of the Father? If you 
do not remember, then go back to the fifth chapter of 
John and there read who the Son ” is. You will find 
that Jesus teaches that the Son is the divine being 
in every man, the spiritual self. And you will find 
there that Jesus meant just what John did in his 
philosophy in the opening chapter of this Gospel, when 
he said, That which hath been made was life in Him.” 
That which hath been made was of His life, even 
God’s life. Thus each and every being is divine, each 
and every one is a child of God. And so it is for you 
and for me that Jesus prayed here, for the Son in you 
and in me, that we may recognize the glory of our 
own being. For, He that honoreth not the Son hon- 
oreth not the Father which hath sent him.” He that 
honoreth not the divine life in himself, honoreth not 
the Father who gave that divine life. And so 
through the revelation of that life in each individual 
is the Son glorified, and by honoring the divine life 
in ourselves do we glorify our Father which is in 
heaven. 


454 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


** As Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that 
he should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast 
given him.” 

Another rendering of the Greek and one which I 
prefer reads: ‘‘As Thou didst give him authority over 
all flesh, so that every thing which Thou hast given to 
him he may give to them, even eternal life.” And 
this may be interpreted as follows: Thou gavest the 
Son (the spiritual man) authority or power over all 
flesh (material man) ; and every thing which Thou 
hast given to him (the Son), he is to give (or explain) 
to all who, in their ignorance, may come to him for 
help or advice, even eternal life; that is, he is even to 
give them an understanding of eternal life. 

The King James Version is perhaps less inclusive in 
its meaning than the above rendering but the same 
general interpretation seems to apply to it. “ Thou 
hast given him power over all flesh.” The Son has 
been given power or authority over all materiality, that 
he may heal the sick, teach the ignorant, comfort the 
oppressed, and bring out of darkness into eternal life 
“ as many as Thou hast given him,” meaning,—as 
many as God has given him to help, even all those who 
in ignorance of the truth come to him seeking the way. 
This passage has to me a great depth of meaning and 
a wonderful message to the Son, who is the spiritual 
being, for through his understanding of the truth he is 


THE PRAYER 


455 


to reach as many as he may and show to them the way 
of eternal life. Referring again to the fifth chapter 
of this Book of John, we read that the Son should do 
“ what he seeth the Father do,'' and, “ the Father show- 
eth him all things that He Himself doeth," for, ‘‘ as 
the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given the 
Son to have life in himself; and hath given him au¬ 
thority to execute judgment also because he is the Son 
of man." ‘ The Son of man, or the spiritual being 
born of God, has been given the power to judge cor¬ 
rectly, and, as the record reads, that he should give 
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given him," which 
as I understand it means, that he should come into^ 
the recognition of this eternal life, not for himself 
alone, but for all others with whom he has to do. 

“ And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee 
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast 
sent." 

,'jAnd eternal life is understood through a true knowl¬ 
edge of God and of His Son, Jesus the Christ, whom 
He.'sent to be a Saviour to mankind through his teach¬ 
ings of the truth. When we at last enter into a true 
recognition of God we perceive the meaning of the 
‘‘ life eternal " and know that we are a part of it. We 

‘Compare also, John iii. 35, “The Father loveth the Son, and 
hath given all things into his hand.” 


456 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

know, too, that ‘‘ that which hath been made was life 
in Him,” and thus that we, ourselves, are created 
out of His own life, being as it were but a spark from 
the great substance of God’s infinite existence, yet as 
eternal as His life. 

I have glorified Thee on the earth.” 

I have manifested Thee, I have honored Thee; with 
my thoughts and my words I have clothed Thee with 
splendor, I have revealed Thy truths; I have glori¬ 
fied Thee on the earth. And has any man glorified 
God as Jesus the Christ did? His words are full of 
the great glory of God throughout his entire teachings. 

“ I have finished the work which Thou gavest me 
to do. 

“ And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine 
own self with the glory which I had with Thee before 
the world was.” 

“ Glorify Thou me with Thine own self.” Aye, 
with Thine own self! And we too, can pray that same 
prayer, for we also in the essential of our being are 
divine, and therefore worthy to pray that prayer. It 
is just this that Jesus would have us know and under¬ 
stand ; it is what he meant when he said he came that 
we “ might have life and that we might have it more 
abundantly.” He desired that every child of God 


THE PRAYER 


457 


should have a more abundant understanding of life 
and of his relation to the Father. With the glory 
which I had with Thee before the world was.'’ Eternal 
life is without end and without beginning; therefore 
Jesus the Christ and each spiritual being existed in the 
life of God “ before the world was" or, before the 
manifestation of this earth life. 

“ I have manifested Thy name unto the men which 
Thou gavest me out of the world: Thine they were, 
and Thou gavest them me; and they have kept Thy 
word. 

Now they have known (know—R. V.) that all 
things whatsoever Thou hast given me are of (from— 
R. V.) Thee. 

“ For I have given unto them the words which Thou 
gavest me; and they have received them, and have 
known surely that I came out from Thee, and they 
have believed that Thou didst send me." 

I have manifested Thy name or Thy truth unto 
those whom Thou hast given me. ‘‘ Now they know 
that all things whatsoever Thou hast given me are 
from Thee." Jesus himself knew that the Father had 
given all things " into his hands, and had repeatedly 
said so from the first, as, when at one time he told his 
disciples, “All things are delivered unto me of my 
Father," and again when he said, “All things that the 
Father hath are mine." 


458 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


^ ** While I was with them in the world, I kept them 
in Thy name: those that Thou gavest me I have kept, 
and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that 
the scripture might be fulfilled.” 

The Revised Version reads: ‘‘While I was with 
them, I kept them in Thy name which Thou hast given 
me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, 
but the son of perdition.” “ Which ” in the Greek re¬ 
fers to “ name/' and this is the meaning given in the 
Revised Version, whereas the same word in verse six 
refers to “ men ” and is translated “ whom ” in the Re¬ 
vised Version. 

Many have read this passage with fear and trem¬ 
bling, missing the meaning of the translation, and each 
fearing that he himself might be a “ son of perdition.” 
I do not think this refers to the loss of any child of 
God but rather to the destruction of evil. As we know, 
Jesus sometimes personifies evil, as in the eighth chap¬ 
ter of this Gospel where he says, “ Ye are of your 
father the devil. . . . He was a murderer from 

the beginning.” “None of them is lost; not one of 
them perished, but the son of perdition.” Or, none of 
them is lost but the son of delusion or error; none is 
lost but that which was lost always; none is destroyed 
but that which was destroyed from the beginning. 

* Verses 9, 10 and ii are omitted here but will be considered 
in the following chapter. 


THE PRAYER 


459 


Nothing at any time was lost but evil and all its off- 
spring, that is, sin, wrong, error in all its forms, or 
whatever may be classed with the noUgood. Evil in 
the end returns to its own nothingness. Thus this ter¬ 
rible thing which has so frightened the world for cen¬ 
turies and which we express in various ways,—eternal 
punishment,^' ‘‘ the casting forth into outer darkness ” 
and so on,—becomes, when understood, an entirely dif¬ 
ferent thing from what we had imagined. Like the 
parable of the sheep and the goats, it is one of the 
greatest truths presented by Jesus, and is even one of 
the things that we wish and pray for,—to have our 
sins cast off and destroyed and put away from us for¬ 
ever. And just as Jesus overcame sin and materiality, 
so may we do likewise; we shall even overcome the 
darkness of ignorance through persistent effort, and 
through allowing the light of truth to shine on every 
pathway. So this verse can be read with this mean-. 
ing: While I was with them, I kept them in Thy name, 
or, I kept them in Thy truth which Thou gavest me to 
teach, and I have guarded them, and none of them is 
lost, but the son or offspring of evil is destroyed; or, 
none of them was destroyed except the son of destruc¬ 
tion. 

“ And now come I to Thee; and these things I speak 
in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in 
themselves.” 


460 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


His joy in the recognition of the truth of God; in 
the recognition of the goodness of God; and in the 
recognition that man is divine ; his joy also in the un¬ 
derstanding of evil and its ultimate destruction and 
loss of power. Jesus realized that his disciples were 
already beginning to understand evil and how to over¬ 
come it, for he had said sometime before this, “ Now 
shall the prince of this world be cast out.” My joy 
fulfilled in themselves'* He wished them to be filled 
full of the joy that so gladdened himself, and he wished 
them to be able to express it in their own lives. Jesus 
desired that their joy in the truths which he had taught 
them might be as complete as his own. That was one 
great object of his life, that his joy in the understand¬ 
ing of the truth might be fulfilled in us. 

‘‘ I have given them Thy word; and the world hath 
hated them, because they are not of the world, even as 
I am not of the world.” 

I have given them an understanding of Thy truths 
and because of their knowledge of spiritual things they 
cannot be said to be of the world of materiality, even 
as I am not; therefore the world hath hated them as 
it always does. “ The world ” is an expression some¬ 
times employed by Jesus when referring to selfishness 
and sin and all kindred errors, in contrast to the spir¬ 
itual life and all things relating to God and His truth. 


THE PRAYER 


461 


“ I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of 
the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from 
the evil.” 

The Greek reads: I do not ask that Thou should¬ 
est take them out of the world.” Jesus asked the Fa¬ 
ther to keep His people from the evil, in other words, 
to keep them in the truth, because in the truth there 
is no evil. “ Keep them from the evil,” not that 
Thou shouldest take them out of the world.” We 
should not pray to be taken out of the world but to be 
kept from the evil that is in the world. It is not that 
we are to ignore the evil or even to run away from 
it; Jesus did not mean that, he wished us to see evil 
in its true light, its real character, and to know it for 
what it is. Not to fear it, not to tremble before it, 
but knowing its true character, to stand firmly and face 
it and see it disappear, as evil always will disappear in 
the presence of truth. Thus we do not need to be 
taken from the world to be freed of evil, we only need 
to know the world as Jesus knew it, and knowing it, 
to become victorious over it 

** They are not of the world, even as I am not of 
the world.” 

We feel that Jesus as he went on in this prayer was 
including all God’s children in his asking, and we have 


462 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


his confirmation of this when in the twentieth verse 
he said, “ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 
also which shall believe.” And even in the most lim¬ 
ited sense in which we may accept his meaning, we 
feel that he was including all those who do not un¬ 
derstand fully and who often fail in the time of trial, 
even such as those who ran away and left him and 
who declared they did not know him. And if he was 
praying for such, then he was praying for such as we 
ourselves,—those like ourselves,—even for you and for 
me. And this but introduces the following great ut¬ 
terance: 

“ Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is 
truth.” 

“ Sanctify or consecrate them in Thy truth.” 

Sanctify ” means ‘‘ to make holy or sacred, to con¬ 
secrate.” The word here translated “ sanctify ” is 
from the same root as the word that is translated 
** holy ” in the expression, “ The Holy Spirit.” 

Make them holy through Thy truth.” And we have 
here in this passage the answer to Pilate's question, 
“ What is truth? ” It is a question that the world has 
been asking throughout all history, and which philoso¬ 
phy has diligently discussed, yet in all its discussing has 
never satisfactorily answered. But here in a sentence 
of four words is the perfect and complete answer with 


THE PRAYER 


463 


no mystery about it. What is truth ? Thy word is 
truth” 

“ Thy word is truth.” That which Thou hast ex¬ 
pressed, that which Thou hast manifested, is truth. 
That which God has brought into being as we say 
sometimes; that which He has sent; that which comes 
from Him and which is of His substance; that is truth. 
The divine of God, wherever it may be found, is truth, 
even the divinity within each being. Every expres¬ 
sion of God’s is truth, and anything which seems to 
exist but is not of Him, is not of the truth, and there¬ 
fore has no true or real existence. 

“ As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so 
have I also sent them into the world.” 

Jesus said a similar thing to his disciples after his 
resurrection, when he stood in their midst: “ Peace be 
unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I 
you.” And how was he sent into the world ? He had 
no diploma, no official script from any government, or 
school, or college, or church of any kind, none what¬ 
ever. All such repudiated him; those in political 
power, the priesthood, the scholars, all repudiated him. 
He had no visible authority for anything that he said 
or did. But as the Father sent him into the world, 
so Jesus sent his disciples into the world. He sent 
them out to teach and to heal, with no warrant for 


464 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


their going but their knowledge of the truth. That 
was their authority for teaching and healing and they 
possessed no other. So Jesus sent these twelve men, his 
disciples, who might be called his pupils, his scholars, 
out on their mission. He sent them as God had sent 
himself. And so is every man sent; so does God send 
every one who has perceived the truth. We all know 
how this is, for we all have felt the quickening of the 
spirit within, when we recognized a truth, and the 
great desire to impart it at once to our friend. That 
is God’s warrant for our going forth to do our work 
in the world. 

“ And for their sakes I sanctify (or consecrate) 
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the 
truth.” 

“ Sanctified ” is from the same Greek word as the 
word hallowed ” which we have in our Lord’s Prayer, 
—Hallowed be Thy name.” The Greek word really 
means to make holy, to hallow, to sanctify.” For 
their sake, for the sake of these twelve, and for the 
sake of every one, Jesus made himself holy, and kept 
himself so, that all might be made holy through the 
truth. This holiness is accomplished through the truth 
alone, through our recognition, our perception of the 
truth, and through our knowledge of the truth, re¬ 
sulting in actions that make for true holiness and true 


THE PRAYER 


465 


blessedness. And it is accomplished in no other way, 
the truth acting in you and thus sanctifying, making 
holy, not only yourself but others through you. The 
sanctification, the holiness, that Jesus the Christ de¬ 
sired and prayed for, is absolute, complete consecration, 
and must come about through the individual action of 
each of God's children throughout the entire world. 


XXXI 


THE PRAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 
(John XVII. 9, 10, 11 and 20-26) 

“ I PRAY for them: I pray not for the world, but for 
them which Thou hast given me; for they are Thine. 

And all mine are Thine, and Thine are mine; and 
I am glorified in them. (“All things that are mine are 
Thine ” is the rendering of the Revised Version.) 

“ And now I am no more in the world, but these are 
in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep 
through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given 
me, that they may be one, as we are.” 

The Revised Version reads: “ Holy Father, keep 
them in Thy name which Thou hast given me, that they 
may be one, even as we are.” You remember that 
Jesus said in connection with the parable of the Good 
Shepherd, “ I and the Father are one ”;' and also that 
he said to Philip on another occasion, “ He that hath 
seen me hath seen the Father.” He repeatedly re¬ 
ferred to this idea of the “ oneness ” of himself with 
the Father;-and on several occasions he used expres¬ 
sions which admit of no other explanation than the 
thought of a unity, a oneness, existing among all men; 
a universal brotherhood binding all men together. We 

* In Chapter XIX, the philosophy underlying the statement, 
“ I and the Father are one,” is discussed at some length. 

466 


PEAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 467 


have been accustomed to think of this unity or oneness 
as existing more especially between Jesus and the Fa¬ 
ther, but Jesus never said so, and if we study his words 
carefully we shall find that he included every one in his 
statements on this subject. When once understood, 
there is really no mystery whatever about the idea of a 
universal oneness, and Jesus* words “ I and the Fa¬ 
ther are one ** are merely a simple statement of a plain 
fact, but one of tremendous importance in our con¬ 
sideration of man as a spiritual being. For we are of 
course, in this discussion of the universal oneness, re¬ 
ferring to the spiritual being, the spiritual man, that 
which is the essential of each man, or that which is the 
reality of his divine existence; the real you. 

We should consider the words of Jesus in this 
prayer, and indeed in all his prayers, in the light of his 
rule concerning prayer, **A11 things whatsoever ye pray 
and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and 
ye shall have them,** thus bringing the reception of the 
thing asked for close home; not putting it off for some 
future time of realization, but expecting it now. Be¬ 
lieve now, that we have received the thing asked for, 
and we shall have it. And it is to be noted that there 
is not the slightest expression of doubt in this state¬ 
ment of Jesus. And so here, this prayer of Jesus, 
That they may be one, even as we are one,** which 
he uttered for his disciples and for all those who be- 


468 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


lieved on him, is also but a plain and confident ex¬ 
pression of the truth as perceived by him, a truth which 
we have failed to recognize in its completeness, but 
which we may recognize and accept if we choose. For 
the perception of even so great a truth as this is ours, 
if we will but believe in its possibility. It is as Jesus 
said when he healed the man possessed of an evil spirit, 
■‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him 
that believeth/' ^ 

“ That they may be one, as we are.” The central 
and important point in this prayer, three times repeated, 
is ‘‘ that they may be one ”; referring to the spiritual 
oneness of every man with every other man,—that 
oneness which unites each child of God, with every 
other one. Jesus prayed that they all might be one 
even as he and the Father were one. We may well 
contemplate this relationship existing between the Fa¬ 
ther and Jesus the Christ, and between the Father and 
every one of His children, and the more we study it 
the more wonderful it will appear to us. So this is 
the prayer for his disciples and not only for his dis¬ 
ciples of that time but for all those who shall believe 
in the truth. He prays that they may recognize this 
oneness existing among themselves, one with another, 
and each with God; a universal oneness that binds them 
together in spiritual harmony. We might say that 

‘Mark ix. 23. 


PEAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 469 

Jesus is asking for our realization of our true condi¬ 
tion one with another, a condition already existent but 
not yet understood or perceived by us,—that we as 
spiritual beings may realize that we are already one 
in spiritual brotherhood. 

Jesus continues his prayer in the same line of 
thought, after uttering those impressive words con¬ 
sidered in the preceding chapter" and which refer more 
particularly to his immediate disciples: how he sent 
them out in the same way that he himself was sent, 
and how he sanctified them, or made them holy, and 
made himself holy for their sakes. Most wonderful 
prayer, for a most wonderful object! Seeking the ab¬ 
solute holiness, the mission of the pure spirit. His 
prayer now assumes a broader scope, including not only 
the disciples but all those who shall believe in him, or 
in the truth. 

“ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also 
which shall believe on me through their word; 

“ That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in 
me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: 
that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. 

“ And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given 
them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” 

“ That they all may be one.” The same prayer that 
he has just made, an utterance of the same petition, 

^ Verses 12-19. 


470 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

but to this he now adds, “As Thou, Father, art in me, 
and I in Thee/' This defines the kind of oneness 
which he would have existent among those who be¬ 
lieve in him, and who believe in God, the Father. 
Jesus would have us as one in that perfect harmony 
one with another which is the natural relationship of 
all God’s children; he would have us one in that unity 
which he defines here when he utters these wonderful 
words referring to the relationship between himself and 
God, “As Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee.” 
Thus Jesus wished for all mankind nothing short of 
the same relationship which he recognized as existing 
between himself and God,—God the Father in us, and 
we in Him. 

“ That they also may be one in us.” When we do 
indeed realize our oneness with God, and with Jesus 
the Christ, then shall we understand our true relation¬ 
ship with each other, perceiving that spiritual oneness 
which Jesus declared as binding together all mankind. 

We may hold our neighbor, our brother, even our 
enemy, aloof from ourselves, through certain condi¬ 
tions, through dislike perhaps, through all sorts of 
things, even through mental conditions of our own 
making. We may say this man is a bad man, and that 
he is not fit for one to associate with. Thus we push 
him away. But this is occasioned by our thought re¬ 
garding the man, and is the result clearly of our own 


PRAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 471 


thinking. What did Jesus say early in his ministry, 
recognizing as he did the separation caused by anger, 
and by hate, and all such things ? He said, But I 
say unto you. Love your enemies.” When we have 
put away the thought of enmity, that thought which 
creates aloofness, when we have put away, out of our¬ 
selves, all discordant thoughts connected with enmity 
and hate and all like offenses,—for mind you, Jesus 
is not talking about the enemy, he is talking to you, 
and to me with regard to what we ourselves have to 
do with ourselves,—when we have put out of mind 
all such thoughts against our brother or our enemy, 
then and only then are we in a position to follow this 
great precept and to love our enemies. 

Thus it is not a question of what the enemy is to do 
concerning us, but what we have to do concerning him. 
Before we can love, we must put away hate, and hav¬ 
ing put this out of mind,—which we may do if we 
choose because we can control all our thinking,—then 
we may enter into that relationship which Jesus ex¬ 
presses by the word “ love,” and obeying his precept 
we may enter into that union, that oneness, which he 
defines as the oneness existing between the Father and 
himself. This is for you to do, for each one to do. 
And this each may do, for as before stated, it is our¬ 
selves we have to correct and not the other man. It 
is we who hold ourselves aloof, and it is through thus 


472 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


holding ourselves aloof and separate from others that 
we fail to recognize our true relationship to God and 
to each other. And so long as we do this, we cannot 
enjoy this relationship in all its beauty and perfection. 

So this recognition of the truth depends not on oth¬ 
ers but on ourselves. We send missionaries, not only 
to foreign lands, but even in our own country and to 
our own neighbors, and in doing so we are but follow¬ 
ing the example of Jesus himself. The first Christian 
missionaries were his disciples, whom he sent out into 
the surrounding country. But after all, the true recog¬ 
nition is by ourselves. We may help others to a clearer 
understanding, but in the last analysis it is one's own 
individual work; each must recognize a truth for him¬ 
self, he cannot perceive it for another. He can only 
aid that other and then leave him to his own percep¬ 
tions. 

“ And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given 
them." Glory here means simply holiness, purifica¬ 
tion. Remember how Jesus for their sakes sanctified 
himself and how he prayed for their sanctification. 
And now he says that he has conferred upon them the 
glory which the Father has given him. And he has* 
given them that glory for a reason; and this reason a 
repetition of the statement already twice expressed, 
“ That they may be one, even as we are one." That 
they may be one through the recognition of that glory 


PRAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 473 

which is the glory of perfection and holiness, and which 
is the glory resulting from complete forgiveness and 
love. “ Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debt¬ 
ors ” admits of nothing less than complete, perfect 
cleansing of ourselves from all error. When this is 
accomplished we must necessarily be filled with the 
glory of God and of His truth. Continuing, Jesus ex¬ 
presses again the same idea though in a different 
form: 

‘‘ I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made 
perfect in one.” 

“ I in them,” meaning the Christ in us; and Thou 
in me,” signifying the indwelling spirit of God. Jesus 
has already said in the conversation which precedes this 
prayer that if we do the things he tells us to do, both he 
and the Father will come unto us, and will make their 
abode with us. These words here are but a repetition 
of the same idea. They are an expression of that 
spiritual oneness which is consciously felt within the 
inner self, and which binds together all spiritual beings 
in a perfect harmony. Thus if we live the Christlike 
life, and think Christlike thoughts, then and only then 
do we become literally one with Christ and with God 
and so with each other. 

“ That they may be made perfect in one.” The Re¬ 
vised Version renders it, “ that they may be perfected 


474 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

into one/' meaning, that they may be made perfect 
through becoming as one. And when we do perceive 
and understand what this spiritual oneness really sig¬ 
nifies, I believe we shall indeed be made perfect, at 
least we shall be well on the road towards perfection. 
And this reminds us that when Jesus said, Love your 
enemies, . . . that ye may be sons of your Fa¬ 

ther which is in heaven,” he also added, “ Ye there¬ 
fore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is per¬ 
fect” (R. V.). This is a marvelous statement, yet 
all his teaching aims at nothing short of that. When 
we can love our enemies we shall do so because we 
realize our relation to God and also their relation to 
the same divine Father, then shall we be conscious of 
this oneness that Jesus says so much about and which 
he evidently had in mind when he prayed, that they 
may be made perfect in one.” And in loving our ene¬ 
mies we shall truly manifest our sonship to God, we 
shall then indeed show that we are children of our 
heavenly Father. We therefore shall be perfect even 
as He is perfect. 

We all are striving for perfection, perhaps doing the 
best we know as we see and understand ourselves, to 
improve ourselves, and to live better and more perfect 
lives. But here through the teaching of Jesus is the 
way made both plain and simple, and by it may we 
arrive at perfection. I know it is frequently said that 


PRAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 475 


perfection is an impossibility, yet absolute perfection 
is a possibility, and will yet be attained, for I do not 
believe that Jesus ever asked us to do anything that is 
impossible. 

We may even arrive at this conclusion from a sci¬ 
entific point of view and find it possible. Perfection 
is within the reach of every human being. Of course 
it cannot be attained at once, but there is a way by 
which man may train himself towards it continually, 
and that is simply by the abandonment of wrong or 
discordant thinking.^ Every discordant thought re¬ 
jected is one step towards perfection;-and every dis¬ 
cordant or wrong thought can be put away until none 
are left. The very fact that we can cease thinking 
one thought and think another, means the positive cer¬ 
tainty that if we will, we can control all our thoughts; 
we can entirely master our own thinking. Thus it is 
possible to cease thinking all discordant and erroneous 
thoughts, and that done, our minds will be filled only 
with the thoughts of perfection, only with true, har¬ 
monious and beautiful thoughts. This accomplished 
we can control our lives in every particular. 

And that the world may know that Thou hast sent 
me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved me.’' 

“ That the world may know that Thou hast sent 
* See Right and Wrong Thinking and their Results, 


476 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

me.’' This is the same thought that is expressed in 
verse twenty-one, only the word there is ** believe,”— 
that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.” 
Now Jesus goes a step further, and prays for this one¬ 
ness and this perfection,—“ that the world may know 
that Thou hast sent me.” He has reached the ultimate 
and supreme conclusion, for now he says, that the 
world may know that Thon hast loved them, as Thou 
hast loved me,” 

We elevate the Christ to a great height in our im¬ 
agination, and yet we have never raised him quite high 
enough, for we have never yet been able to compass 
within our understanding what he really was and is, 
nor the height and depth, the length and breadth of his 
teaching. And then too we have held, consciously or 
unconsciously, intentionally or otherwise, the thought 
that somehow Jesus the Christ was a particular favor¬ 
ite with God. We have looked upon him as in some 
way favored beyond ourselves, standing in a place un¬ 
approachable by us and holding a regard from the Fa¬ 
ther which is not for any other person. Now, as 
Peter said, “ God is no respecter of persons,” ‘ caring 
more for one than for another, but He is impartial. 
We believe this to be true, and yet, perhaps uncon¬ 
sciously to ourselves, we have held this idea of par¬ 
tiality in our minds. But Jesus sets such an idea en- 

^Acts X. 34. 


PRAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 477 

tirely aside here when he says, That the world may 
know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as 
Thou hast loved mt” 

Words can go no farther than that. Yet stop a 
moment and think what you are. Jesus told you to 
say, "" Our Father which art in heaven.’' He has told 
you also to acknowledge your sonship, to acknowledge 
that you are a child of God, and that He is your Fa¬ 
ther. Jesus now further tells us that the Father loves 
us even as He loves Jesus himself. If we could but 
once truly realize this, if we could but let it sink into 
our minds so that it would never be forgotten, it would 
mean to us more than aught else. 

This is the culmination of Jesus’ teaching, and every¬ 
thing, through all that he has said, points to this as the 
great climax, even as it points also to the possibility 
of absolute perfection of conduct and life. Nowhere 
does Jesus claim for himself any one thing which he 
does not set forth as belonging equally to all others. 
All the gifts of God by right of divine inheritance be¬ 
long equally to all His children, whether or not they 
are spiritually advanced enough as yet to recognize it. 
You know that Jesus gave as one of the reasons for 
his going awayi The works that I do shall ye do 
also; and greater works than these shall ye do; because 
I go unto the Father.” He meant that he had not 
himself compassed the whole; there were yet greater 


478 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


works to be done than he had done, and by his going 
he left his disciples in the position where they were to 
do not only the works that he had done but greater 
even than those. 

There is one important thing, strongly exemplified 
in the life of Jesus, which has been much overlooked, 
and that is, the absolute freedom in which he leaves 
every human being. And God Himself leaves each 
one of us in the same absolute freedom. Thus this 
truth is for us if we choose to accept it; neither the 
Christ nor the Father forces us into it. It is left to 
you and to me if we choose, to discard all wrong 
thoughts, until there is nothing left in our minds but 
the good, the pure, and the true thoughts. God does 
not compel men to do this or anytliing else; He leaves 
them free in every particular. So it is with Jesus; 
he has opened the way of truth, and he has shown us 
this way all along in everything that he has taught, 
assuring us of the results if we but follow his teach¬ 
ings. 

As before stated, Jesus here reaches the climax when 
he says that the Father loves us as He has loved him¬ 
self. This is the real conclusion of his prayer, this 
benediction of love. Though he adds a few more 
words they are really a repetition of ideas already ex¬ 
pressed. 


PRAYER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE 479 


“ Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast 
given me, be with me where I am; that they may be¬ 
hold my glory, which Thou hast given me: for Thou 
lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 

“ O righteous Father, the world hath not known 
Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known 
that Thou hast sent me. 

And I have declared unto them Thy name, and 
will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved 
me may be in them, and I in them.’* 

This is his final word, a word of deepest love, than 
which nothing higher, nothing greater is possible. It 
is a petition for all mankind that the love of God for 
the Christ may dwell in you, and that the spiritual 
presence of the Christ himself be also within you. 


XXXII 


ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 
(John XVIII. 1-38) 

We come now to an abrupt change in the course of 
the narrative. Jesus has finished his teaching. The 
time for his departure has arrived. He has given his 
disciples a definite farewell in that wonderful benedic¬ 
tion of love with which he ended his prayer in the 
chapter we have just studied. We now take up his 
arrest and the final days of his ministry. 

‘‘ When Jesus had spoken these words, he went 
forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where 
was a garden, into the which he entered, and his dis¬ 
ciples.” 

For the full understanding of this story, it is neces¬ 
sary to read all four of the accounts; each Gospel con¬ 
tains something which the others do not. Particularly 
is this the case with John, for in this account as in al¬ 
most everything which he narrates, John omits many 
of the facts which the other Gospels have noted. We 

will confine ourselves mainly to the Gospel of John, 

480 


481 


ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 

supplementing it with the others only as there seems to 
be a need in order to have a better understanding. 

John says that Jesus went into the garden with his 
disciples. Matthew and Mark give the name of the 
place as “ Gethsemane/’ meaning oil-press ” or the 
place where the oil was pressed from the olives. 
Gethsemane, where Jesus retired with his disciples after 
the Last Supper, is understood to be at the foot of the 
Mount of Olives on the bank of the Kidron (or Ce- 
dron). Jesus was in the habit of resorting to this place 
and with the disciples had frequently spent the night 
there in the open air. This ‘‘ garden was probably a 
piece of ground enclosed by a wall or fence of some 
sort, and doubtless this enclosure contained a press. 
The spot is still pointed out on the other side of the 
brook Kidron at the foot of the Mount of Olives, but 
there is no absolute certainty as to this being the actual 
place. 

“And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the 
place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his dis¬ 
ciples. 

“ Judas then, having received a band of men and 
officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh 
thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.’’ 

There was quite probably a large number of men. 
The Revised Version renders it a “ band or cohort of 
soldiers.” A cohort was an armed band or body of 


482 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


men which in old Roman days consisted of from 500 
to 600 soldiers. The men given Judas were put under 
his direction by the chief priests and Pharisees, and 
probably the officers were those who were most in ear¬ 
nest concerning the removal of Jesus. Presumably 
these officials were in part, officers of the temple under 
the direction of the priests, and in part, a delegation 
from the garrison in the fort and in Jerusalem, which 
was held by the Romans. 

“ Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should 
come (or are coming) upon him, went forth, and said 
unto them. Whom seek ye ? ’’ 

John omits all notice of the prayer in the garden 
and of the incidents connected with it. Also he does 
not mention the kiss of betrayal which according to 
Matthew and Mark was the sign agreed upon by Judas 
with the officials. Luke merely states that, “ Judas 
. . . drew near unto Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus 

said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man 
with a kiss?” Thus Jesus stands forth before this 
mixed company of people, containing besides the offi¬ 
cials and guards, probably others who have gathered 
in the crowd out of curiosity. So we picture him 
standing there in front of this armed band, in the 
simple majesty of his personality; one man facing the 
multitude as he says unto them, “ Whom seek ye ? ” 


ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 


483 


'‘They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus 
saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which be¬ 
trayed him, stood with them. 

“ As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, 
they went backward, and fell to the ground.” 

These men, notwithstanding their hatred of Jesus 
and in spite of the simplicity of his words and man¬ 
ner, must have felt the majesty of his presence for, as 
soon as Jesus had spoken the words “ I am he,” they, 
according to one translation, " fell backward to the 
ground.” They could not maintain themselves in the 
presence of this simple, unpretentious man, fearlessly 
standing there alone before them and their weapons of 
warfare. It was the might of the truth, or the con¬ 
sciousness of the " I AM ” of God expressed through 
Jesus, which swept them off their feet. 

“ Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye ? And 
they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 

"Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if 
therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.” 

Or, " If ye seek me, here am I, but permit these 
disciples to go their way.” Observe that even in this 
critical moment Jesus is thinking of others and he 
offers no resistance. In reading his precept, " Resist 
not evil,” how far have we been able to understand its 
depth of meaning? In all our study of this precept. 


484 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

in all our thoughts concerning it, even while remem¬ 
bering his teaching regarding forgiveness, I doubt if 
we have fully fathomed the meaning of these words as 
uttered by Jesus ,Resist not evil.” Here stood a man 
who had never harmed any one, who had violated not 
one Jewish law, who had done only good to his fellow 
men; whose one great object was that men might know 
God, might know Him as the Father; and might know 
Him not as a vengeful God, but as a God of love. He 
had given no man any occasion for an attack of vio¬ 
lence, was absolutely with no fault in him, as Pilate 
himself afterwards said. Armed only with an armor- 
plate of truth against which the world battled, he, 
through the majesty and power of his spiritual pres¬ 
ence, overthrew the troop that had come to take him. 
He obeyed to the last requirement his own precept of 
non-resistance, that precept which the world not only 
fails to understand, but obedience to which the world 
believes would bring disaster upon the human race. 
Yet Jesus obeyed it, offering no resistance to these 
men. 

At the time of all the agony of Gethsemane men¬ 
tioned in the first three Gospels, when Jesus prayed 
that wonderful prayer there in the garden, three times 
repeating practically the same words, he yet could say. 

Nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done.” Even 
with all this agony Jesus was without resistance even 


485 


ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 

in thought it appears, for although he said, “ Father, 
if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me,” ‘ yet he 
immediately added, “ not my will, but Thine, be done.” 
Not that it was the will of the Father that he should 
die suffering on the cross, but that it was the will of 
the Father that, living the truth as he had lived it, he 
should continue so to live it to the end. And a portion 
of this great truth was contained in these precepts of 
his which he himself never violated,—“ Resist not 
evil ” and Love your enemies.” Such a life was ac¬ 
cording to the will of God, and it was His will and 
His truth which Jesus followed. Majesty, grandeur, 
sublimity in human action never rose to a greater 
height. And yet it is possible for every one of God’s 
children to live as Jesus did. But even his disciples 
who had been with him throughout these years, listen¬ 
ing to his teaching, witnessing the marvelous works 
that he did, so far failed to understand his principles 
of non-resistance that Simon Peter drew his sword 
and smote the high priest’s servant, cutting off his 
right ear. What a contrast between the two; Peter 
the man and Jesus the Christ! Peter, smiting with the 
sword, stands for erring humanity; Jesus, healing the 
smitten ear,* making good the error of man, stands for 
the truth of God. 

‘Compare John xii. 27, where Jesus says, “Father, save me 
from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.” 

‘ Luke xxii. 51. 


486 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

Since that day some of the bloodiest wars that his¬ 
tory has known have been fought in the name of Jesus. 
Peter was no farther wrong in wielding his sword 
against the high priest’s servant, than professed Chris¬ 
tians have been since, when not merely has an ear been 
cut off, but thousands and tens of thousands have been 
slain in red-handed butchery, because they thought they 
were serving the will of Jesus and doing him honor. 
In spite of his great precept, “ Love your enemies,” 
men even to this day still think it right to kill one an¬ 
other. 

“ Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into 
the sheath: the cup which my {the —R. V.) Father 
hath given me, shall I not drink it ? ” 

And how we have misinterpreted this! Blinded, as 
Peter was, the world has taken the cup ” to mean 
the cup of despair and torment, of suffering and death. 
Yet God knows none of these things. God, the loving 
Father, never willed that Jesus or any other one of 
His children should suffer, not even one iota. The 
cup that the Father gave to Jesus was the cup that He 
gives to you and to me; and it is the cup of truth, the 
cup of absolute rightness and of non-resistance, that 
we may drain it to the very bottom, as Jesus did. To 
us, looking at it from Peter’s viewpoint, it appears to 
be very bitter; indeed to the human it appears as bitter- 


ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 


487 


ness itself. And, looking at it from the human side 
alone, it would seem that all that came to Jesus from 
drinking of this cup was disgrace, suffering, and death. 
But in reality that which came to the Christ was resur¬ 
rection and life eternal; a resurrection and an eternal 
life that were known and realized by him, were even 
expected and understood. 

The other Gospels give a few more details not nar¬ 
rated by John. For instance, Luke tells how, when 
they were at supper, Jesus said to the disciples, “ When 
I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked 
ye any thing? ” We say to ourselves, many of us, “ I 
know that the teaching of Jesus is right and that I 
should even give up all I have to those in need, trusting 
that in so doing I shall lack nothing.’^ And we say, 
I wish I could, but it does not look practical, and to 
tell the truth, I do not dare to.” Yet Jesus calls the 
attention of his disciples here to the very things that 
men say they do not dare to give up, and the disciples 
replied that they lacked nothing. “ Then said he unto 
them. But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, 
and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let 
him sell his garment, and buy one.” Men have used 
this as an argument for war, and have said that this 
was Jesus’ declaration that the time had come to fight. 
But what did they reply ? They said, Lord, behold, 
here are two swords.” The twelve had two swords 


488 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

among them. Jesus knew at this time what was ahead 
of him and that the hour of his arrest was close at 
hand, yet he said unto them, ‘‘ It is enough.” Two 
enough for such an armed band as was coming out to 
meet them? From one point of view it sounds absurd, 
but looked at in the direct light of Jesus’ teaching, it 
is easy to understand. It was enough. Even the one 
that Peter had was enough, as we have just read, for 
Jesus made of that an object lesson, reproving Peter 
and telling him to return his sword to its place. Never 
under any circumstances, no matter what the hour or 
the occasion,—for there was never an occasion which 
seemed to warrant fighting more than this one,—was 
the sword to be used. 

Matthew gives additional words of Jesus at this 
time, when, after reproving Peter, Jesus continues, 

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, 
and He shall presently give me more than twelve 
legions of angels ? ” There was only one-tenth of a 
legion of Roman soldiers there in the cohort that had 
come out with Judas. But Jesus could pray the Fa¬ 
ther and He would send for his relief more than 
twelve legions. Indeed, all that was needed, if he so 
desired, was to maintain the force of his spiritual ex¬ 
istence and God-given power, and exerting that great 
power at his will, not a man of them all could have 
touched him. Jesus knew this but he offered no re- 


489 


ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 

sistancc. Had he done so the greatest object of his 
entire life would have failed of accomplishment. He 
had himself said, '' Resist not evil,” and he did not. 

“ Then the band and the captain and officers of the 
Jews took Jesus, and bound him. 

And led him away to Annas first; for he was fa¬ 
ther-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that 
same year.” 

Probably there was never a more politically corrupt 
priesthood than that which ruled at Jerusalem at that 
time, nor one exerting greater power. Annas seems to 
have been a highly influential person. He had himself 
been high priest for a number of years. Four of his 
sons were then successively appointed to the office of 
high priest, until at this time it had devolved upon 
Caiaphas, who was the son-in-law of Annas. Annas 
was thus at the head of a powerful faction. He was a 
man of dominating influence and seems to have been 
the most important personality among the priesthood 
at that time. This was the condition of things at the 
time of the trial of Jesus. So to Annas, not high 
priest in reality, but wielding the authority of high 
priest, they first took Jesus, afterwards taking him to 
Caiaphas, acting high priest, for a more formal trial. 

‘‘ Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the 
Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die 
for the people.” 


490 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


Caiaphas was a prophet in that instance, though 
unwittingly so. What he evidently had in mind when 
he uttered those words ^ was not, as we interpret it, 
that in the death of Jesus the world would be saved, 
but that through his death Judea and the Jews might 
be saved from political destruction. Caiaphas was 
the leading spirit at the council which was held to 
devise measures to stem the rising current when the 
popularity of Jesus had received a powerful impulse 
from the raising of Lazarus. His counsel was to put 
Jesus to death before a tumult of the people should 
bring down upon the nation the vengeance of the 
Romans. His action upon this occasion illustrates his 
characteristic disregard of justice and religion, and 
shows with what adroitness he could hide self-interest 
under the cloak of patriotism.” ^ 

The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, 
and of his doctrine ” (teaching—R. V.). 

That he must die had already been determined upon, 
but his enemies realized that they must have the for¬ 
mality of some excuse for his death. Jesus answered: 

“ I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the 
synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always 
resort; and in secret have I said nothing. 


Hohn xi. 50. 


“ Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, 


AEREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 


491 


“ Why askest thou me ? ask them which heard me, 
what I have said unto them: behold, they know what 
I said.” 

The teaching of Jesus had been open and free, as he 
said, “ In secret have I said nothing.” This is no 
attempt at defense; it is merely a plain statement of 
the way he went about his business. For three years 
Jesus had taught; and his teaching was to the world, 
to Jew and Gentile, to any who would listen. For the 
past week he had been teaching in the temple almost 
continually, under the very eyes of the priesthood, and 
in the very presence of the scribes and Pharisees. 
There were many who could be brought in there to 
testify as to what he had taught. Thus it was a wise 
appeal. 

“ And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers 
which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, 
saying, Answerest thou the high priest so ? ” 

There was nothing disrespectful in this reply of 
Jesus to the high priest. Jesus merely made an appeal 
to him to bring in others, any who had heard his teach¬ 
ings, that they might bear witness to what he had said. 
The high priest need not take his testimony alone, he 
could ask any of those who had listened to his words. 
And Jesus stands there before them, unafraid, speak- 


492 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

ing freely, yet gentle to the last, unresisting to the end. 
So he replies to the officer: 

If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but 
if well, why smitest thou me ? ” 

Thus ends, according to John, the first episode of the 
trial. Mark tells us a little more about this interview 
or examination before the high priest, some things 
which seem to be necessary in explanation of what 
follows. For instance, in the fourteenth chapter of 
Mark we read: “ The high priest asked him, Art thou 
the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ? ” This title, “ The 
Blessed,” was a popular form of expression among the 
Jews to indicate the Supreme Being. And Jesus an¬ 
swers this question by saying, “ I am: and ye shall see 
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, 
and coming in the clouds of heaven.” This not only 
to the high priests but to the whole world! And if 
every man were to live the truth as Jesus lived it, he 
also would sit on the right hand of power and each 
would recognize the Son of man in all his glory. They 
would need only to perceive and to live the truth of 
God and all evil would disappear from before them. 
But the high priests did not interpret his words in this 
way. To continue in Mark, “ Then the high priest 
rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further 
witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think 


493 


ARREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 

ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of 
death.” Now this is one of the things which John 
does not mention. The fact is that under the Jewish 
law the man who blasphemed was deemed guilty of a 
capital crime, but under the Roman law he was guilty 
of no offense. The Roman law took no note of such 
things. 

Jesus then had been before Annas and examined; he 
had been to Caiaphas, and these things had occurred, 
and then they led him from Caiaphas to the hall of 
judgment to obtain permission to have him put to 
death. It was still very early in the morning, probably 
between four and six o’clock, when Jesus was led away 
from the high priest’s house to the governor’s resi¬ 
dence, where Pilate, the procurator, was accustomed to 
stay when in Jerusalem. The night had been spent in 
that upper chamber with his disciples, at the Last 
Supper as we call it; then afterwards in the Garden of 
Gethsemane; and then in the two examinations before 
Annas and Caiaphas. Evidently there had been some 
sort of an understanding, for six o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing seems rather early for Pilate to be sitting in judg¬ 
ment on a case of this kind. 

Pilate was the Roman procurator or governor of 
Judea, which was under Roman law to a certain ex¬ 
tent. But while Judea was thus directly governed by 
Rome, a large measure of local self-government was 


494 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

allowed. Death sentences required the governor’s con¬ 
firmation and were executed by him. The tolerant 
Roman rule showed much respect for the customs and 
prejudices of the Jewish people. It aimed at as large 
liberty as was consistent with order and tribute. Most 
of the difficulties in Judea arose from the religious zeal 
and intractable disposition of the Jews themselves. 
Pilate came to Judea contemporaneously with the ap¬ 
pearance of John the Baptist, and his rule covered the 
period of Jesus’ ministry and of the first establishment 
of Christianity in Judea.” * 

And they themselves went not into the judgment 
hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might 
eat the passover.” 

According to Jewish ideas, a man must not enter 
the house of the Gentiles lest he by so doing be defiled, 
so that he could not partake of the feast of the pass- 
over. He could not worship in the temple on this 
great occasion unless he were ceremonially clean. So 
as his accusers refused to enter the house, Jesus was 
sent in to Pilate in the judgment hall. Pilate then 
went out to them and demanded: 

‘‘ What accusation bring ye against this man ? ” 

“ They seem to have expected him to confirm their 
‘ Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible. 


AKREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 


495 


sentence without inquiry, a fact which illustrates the 
large authority conceded by the Romans to the native 
court. But Pilate refused to act without reasons. 
When they suddenly cried, ‘ If this man were not an 
evil-doer, we should not have delivered him up unto 
thee,^ he contemptuously remarked, ‘ Take him your¬ 
selves, and judge him according to your law,’ thus 
forcing them to admit that they could not secure their 
purpose except through him, for they reply, ‘ It is not 
lawful for us to put any man to death.’ The position 
of Pilate fully warranted this haughty expression of 
authority; but he was probably actuated in this in¬ 
stance by the desire to do justice, or at least to prevent 
the injustice which they intended.” ^ 

The Jews had fully determined on the death of 
Jesus, and they had found one thing only, the crime 
of blasphemy which, under their own laws, was pun¬ 
ishable by death, but not under the Roman law. Be¬ 
ing forced to present charges of some sort, and know¬ 
ing the uselessness of bringing forward the only one 
they really can accuse him of,—that of blasphemy,— 
they make three false accusations against him, for in 
Luke we read: They began to accuse him, saying. 
We found this fellow perverting the nation, and for¬ 
bidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he him¬ 
self is Christ a King.” 

* Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible. 


496 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

‘‘ Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, 
and called Jesus, and said unto him. Art thou the King 
of the Jews? 

** Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thy¬ 
self, or did others tell it thee of me ? 

“ Pilate answered. Am I a Jew? Thine own nation 
and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: 
what hast thou done ? 

The governor seems to have been impressed with 
the demeanor of Jesus as that of no ordinary prisoner, 
and in this more or less private interview the disposi¬ 
tion and character of Pilate specially appear. Jesus 
freely answered his questions, and explained the en¬ 
tirely unworldly nature of his kingdom. He dealt with 
the Roman throughout as with one not actuated by 
malice. 

** Jesus answered. My kingdom is not of this world: 
if my kingdom were of this world, then would my 
servants" fight, that I should not be delivered to the 
Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” 

Following is a closer rendering of the Greek: “If 
of this world were my kingdom, my officers, (those 
under my authority), would he fighting, {%, e., now) 
that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But my 
kingdom is not from this source.” 

Nothing but these words of Jesus is really needed 

* “ Officers ” as in verses 3, I2, 18 and 22, and so translated in 
the Revised Version, Margin. 


AEREST AND TRIAL OF JESUS 497 

to show us his true mission. And behind these words 
are all those three years of his life, when he went 
about Judea, teaching and healing, and doing good in 
every way; those three years of preaching and living 
his great precepts,—the greatest of all being, “ L,ove 
your enemies/' 

“ Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a kiner 
then ? ^ 

The idea conveyed by the Greek is that Pilate ex¬ 
pects the answer Yes," as if he said, ‘‘ You are a 
king then, are you not?*^ Jesus’ answer shows this, 
for he says in reply: 

Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was 
I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that 
I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that 
is of the truth heareth my voice.” 

“ Every one who is of the truth hears my voice; ” 
that is, the spiritual being, whose longing for the truth 
is greater than his desire for earthly things, hears my 
voice and understands. We cannot wonder that Pilate 
failed to comprehend when Jesus said, “ My kingdom 
is not of this world,” and that if his kingdom were an 
earthly one his followers would fight to prevent his 
delivery to the Jews. When Pilate asks, ‘‘Art thou 
not then a king?” Jesus neither affirms nor denies. 


498 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

simply stating, “ Thou sayest that I am a king.” Jesus 
then makes a definite statement as to his life and 
work by saying, ‘‘For this I have been born; and 
for this I have come into the world, that I may testify 
to the truth.” For the kingship of the Christ was the 
kingship of the truth and that alone. 

“ Pilate saith unto him. What is truth ? And when 
he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and 
saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.” 

Or as in the Revised Version, “ I find no crime in 
him.” The exact meaning of the Greek is, “ I find 
no case against him, no occasion for blame.” When 
Pilate said, “ What is truth ? ” he probably was not 
seriously questioning because he really desired to know, 
but rather spoke with the flippancy of the man of the 
world who simply does not understand and apparently 
does not care to. And this ends the first part of the 
investigation or trial before Pilate. 


XXXIII 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 
(John XVIII. 39, 40; and XIX.) 

So this was Pilate's verdict; “ I find in him no fault 
at all"; and from this time on, he really attempted to 
find some means by which he might set Jesus free. He 
continues to the Jews: 

“ But ye have a custom,* that I should release unto 
you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I re¬ 
lease unto you the King of the Jews? ” 

This directly shows Pilate's willingness and even his 
desire to release Jesus. From the first, he not only 
made up his mind that Jesus was innocent of the 
charges brought against him, and had done nothing to 
warrant death, but he began immediately, in so far as 
he was able, to do what he could to set him free. But 
the people, led by the chief priests, cried: 

“ Not this man, but Barabbas." 

Now Barabbas was a robber probably the leader 
of one of the many bands that were ravaging the coun¬ 
try under the pretext of some political scheme. From 

^ See Matt, xxvii. 15 . 

499 


500 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


that time until the fall of Judea the country was con¬ 
tinually disturbed by these marauders. 

Jesus was from Galilee, and Galilee was included in 
the territory of Herod, who was at that time in Jeru¬ 
salem. Herod, at least outwardly, was more or less 
of a Jew, and Pilate and Herod had been under 
strained relations. So Pilate, perhaps to show his 
friendliness, sent Jesus to Herod. Now Herod had 
heard much of Jesus and wished to see him, and as 
the record states, he was in hopes to have seen some 
miracle wrought by him. Whatever the interview may 
have been it ended simply in Herod’s sending Jesus 
back to Pilate. He refused to accept any responsibil¬ 
ity, only indicating by his mockery his contempt for the 
claims of Jesus. 

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged 
him.” 

Apparently Pilate in thus scourging Jesus was sim¬ 
ply offering a weak compromise merely to please the 
Jews, and still hoping for the release of Jesus. Among 
the Romans scourging was the usual preliminary of 
execution, and the man who was sentenced to death 
was turned over to the soldiers for this punishment. 
These soldiers were not Jews but, having been quar¬ 
tered in that vicinity, they had heard of Jesus and 
seemed to take delight, as ignorant people are apt to, 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 501 

in taunting one whom but recently they had looked 
upon as in some respects above them. So Jesus was 
charged with claiming to be a king, and they placed a 
crown of thorns on his head, and put on him a purple 
robe. Purple was the color of the Emperor of Rome, 
thus the crown and the purple were signs of royalty, 
of kingship; and so did they mock at him, and they 
said: 

Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with 
their hands (with rods —R. V. Margin). 

“ Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto 
them. Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may 
know that I find no fault in him.’" 

Here is the second appeal of Pilate following close 
on the first one. He had sent Jesus to Herod evi¬ 
dently with the hope that Herod would take charge of 
the case because Jesus, being from Galilee, belonged 
in Herod's jurisdiction. This having failed and the 
scourging having taken place, he goes out to them and 
again he says that Jesus is innocent. And evidently 
Pilate's idea in this particular case was to arouse their 
pity, for he brought Jesus out wearing the crown of 
thorns and the purple robe, probably with the marks 
of the' scourging upon him, and the blood on his face 
and garments. And Pilate said unto them: “Behold 
the man 1” 


502 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


The spectacle must have been enough to soften the 
hardest heart, for, remember all that Jesus had just 
been through! There was the Supper with his disci¬ 
ples and the long conversation afterwards; the be¬ 
trayal of Judas and the agony in the garden; the arrest 
and the trial before Annas and Caiaphas, then before 
Pilate and Herod, and again before Pilate; and finally 
the scourging. 

“ When the chief priests therefore and officers saw 
him, they cried out, saying. Crucify him, crucify him.” 

, And among this assemblage of people, led by the 
chief priests and officers, were presumably many who, 
only a few days before, had entered Jerusalem with 
Jesus, shouting ‘‘ Hosanna,” greeting him as their king, 
and proclaiming their devotion to him. The change 
that had come about in less than one short week was 
remarkable. It began with their failure to understand 
the real position of Jesus. It resulted from their mis¬ 
taken idea that the Messiah was to be a man at the 
head of the nation, literally the king of the Jews. The 
people thoroughly believed, even the twelve disciples 
believed, that the Messiah was to take the reins of 
temporal authority and rule the nation. But Jesus 
had declined to do this, so their idea of the Messiah 
had fallen down utterly. They, being under the 
Roman yoke, were looking for him to emancipate them 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OP JESUS 503 


from Roman rule. Thus he had completely disap¬ 
pointed them, and judging them as we might ourselves 
under similar circumstances, it is hardly to be won¬ 
dered at that there should come this revulsion of feel¬ 
ing, and that even in this mob who now cried out for 
his crucifixion there should be some who also had cried 
upon his entry into Jerusalem, Hosanna: Blessed is 
the King of Israel.” But Pilate says in answer to 
their cries of ‘‘ Crucify him 

‘‘ Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault 
in him.” ^ 

For the third time Pilate declares that he finds no 
fault in Jesus; he practically says, He is not guilty; 
I find nothing about him to warrant death.” The 
Greek indicates that his words should be emphasized 
thus: “ Take you him and crucify him, for / find no 
fault in him.” As if he said, “ On your shoulders be 
the responsibility of his death, as for me I wash my 
hands of the affair.” And according to Matthew we 
read that when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing 
but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water 
and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, T 
am innocent of the blood of this righteous man: see 
ye to it” * 

* Compare Acts iii. 13. 

*Matt. xxvii. 24, Revised Version. 


504 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by 
our law he ought to die, because he made himself (the) 
Son of God.” 

The word the ” does not occur in the Greek. So 
the passage may be translated because he made him¬ 
self Son of God,” or, because he made himself a 
Son of God.” 

‘‘ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was 
the more afraid.” 

We must remember that Pilate was a Roman, and 
those who understand Roman religion know what 
Roman superstition was. We may laugh at the mild 
superstitions of one another, but to the Roman what 
we call superstition was a reality. They consulted the 
clouds, the flight of birds, and signs and omens with¬ 
out number, and believed in them, for it was an age 
much given to such things. And that was what Pilate 
had been educated to. Later that very day he was to 
be harassed by his wife about a dream which she had 
had regarding Jesus,^ and dreams with the Romans 
had far more weight than with the most superstitious 
of us. 

Pilate, as we gather from the facts of history, 
wanted to do the right thing, but he lacked moral 
courage; he was weak, and therein seems to have been 

* Matt, xxvii. 19. 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OP JESUS 505 

his worst fault. And so when they said that this man 
had made himself a Son of God, there probably passed 
through his mind the thought, Is it possible that this 
man is divine ? ” It is indeed no wonder that he was 
afraid! And so he goes back again into the judgment 
hall and says unto Jesus: 

‘‘Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no an¬ 
swer.'' 

Pilate had asked him if he were a king, but now he 
wanted something more, something definite upon which 
he might base his decision. But Jesus now remains 
silent. With the character of Pilate and the condi¬ 
tions of that time, together with the howling mob of 
priests and men outside, it is hardly probable that any 
statement which Jesus might then have made would 
have availed, and he himself realized this. “ Whence 
art thou ? " Virtually saying, “Are these things that 
you have said of yourself true? Is this that they say 
of you true? Art thou indeed a Son of God? " Pi¬ 
late was the governor of Judea; he therefore had a 
right to ask questions concerning political affairs. You 
remember how definitely and positively Jesus had an¬ 
swered the question of Pilate when he asked him if he 
were a king. Equally emphatic now is the silence of 
Jesus. Evidently Pilate is now out of patience with 
what to him must have seemed the unreasonable ob- 


506 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

stinacy of the man, for as Jesus continues to be silent 
he says to him: 

‘‘ Speakest thou not unto me ? knowest thou not that 
I have power (authority—R. V. Margin) to crucify 
thee, and have power (authority) to release thee?'' 

It is the utterance of the man of the world, of any 
man of the world in authority, to one beneath him. 
He has now appealed to Jesus to say something which 
shall clarify the situation in the mind of Pilate. Jesus 
answers this last appeal: 

“Thou couldest have no power at all against me, 
except it were given thee from above: therefore he 
that delivereth me unto thee hath the greater sin." 

This is as wonderful a reply as that which Jesus had 
given to the high priest^ and evidently Pilate under¬ 
stood it. At any rate, it appears that Pilate was af¬ 
fected by the solemnity of the answer and, as the record 
states, “ from thenceforth he sought to release him." 
Clearly the conviction came to him more strongly than 
ever that he must save the life of Jesus. 

“ But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this 
man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever mak- 
eth himself a king speaketh against Caesar.” 

The Jews recognized that here was a critical situa¬ 
tion; that their charges were really being set aside by 

* Matt. xxvi. 64; Mark xiv. 62. 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 507 


Pilate, and that if they were not wily and shrewd they 
would fail in their plan to have Jesus put to death. 
So they flung this taunt at Pilate, “If thou let this 
man go, thou art not CsesaPs friend ”; in other words, 
“If you release this man, you are no longer loyal to 
Caesar.” And they added, “ Whosoever maketh him¬ 
self a king speaketh against Caesar.” This was the 
charge against Jesus. Already Pilate’s political power 
was beginning to wane. Already complaints had gone 
up to Rome about his methods with the Jews, and 
Pilate knew this. And so at this critical time these 
people were crafty enough to use the very weapon 
which would reach a man like Pilate. It was perfectly 
clear that Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but their ac¬ 
cusation struck at a tender spot with him. He owed 
his authority to Caesar, and here is a chance for a 
charge against him, if he sets free a possible usurper 
who has already declared himself king. Apparently 
this was the turning-point with Pilate. So when 
Pilate heard these words of the Jews he brought Jesus 
forth, and he sat down in the judgment seat in a place 
called the Pavement. This was a spot, probably in 
the open air, paved with stones, enclosed and elevated, 
where the judge sat in his chair of state,—called the 
“ judgment seat or tribunal,”—regarded as the official 
seat of the Roman judge. 

It is supposed to have been at this point that Pilate 


508 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


received the message from his wife telling of her dream 
concerning Jesus, and warning him to have nothing to 
do with his death. The superstitious feeling caused 
by this incident probably added to the force of Pilate’s 
conviction that Jesus should be released. But the crit¬ 
ical point with Pilate had evidently passed and he could 
not now retract. 

When again Pilate asked which of the two he should 
release unto them and they cried as before, “ Barabbas,” 
he said unto them, “ What shall I do then with Jesus 
which is called Christ ? ” They all cried out, “ Let 
him be crucified.”" Then Pilate protesting against 
such an extreme penalty said unto them, Why, what 
evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death 
in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.” * 
But they with loud voices clamored for crucifixion. 
And as recorded by Luke, “ The voices of them and 
of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sen¬ 
tence that it should be as they required.” 

To return to the record as given by John we read 
that, ** It was the preparation of the passover, and 
about the sixth hour,” meaning the sixth hour from 
sunrise, and Pilate said unto the Jews, “ Behold your 
King!” This was uttered in the spirit of mockery, 
and recognizing it as such the people cried out, “Away 
with him, away with him, crucify him.” To which 
^ Matt, xxvii. 22. ® Puke xxiii. 22. 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 509 

Pilate answers, still in the spirit of mockery, “ Shall 
I crucify your King?’^ The mob was mad; raised 
even to a higher pitch of excitement than it had been 
before. And the chief priests answered, ‘‘ We have 
no king but Caesar,’^ thus strangely seeming to renounce 
their nationality, to forswear their political freedom, 
declaring their allegiance to Rome. Then Pilate de¬ 
livered Jesus unto them to be crucified. 

“ And they took Jesus, and led him away. 

“ And he bearing his cross went forth into a place 
called the place of a skull,^ which is called in the He¬ 
brew Golgotha: 

“ Where they crucified him, and two others with 
him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” 

John does not enter into the scenes of suffering as 
much as the other narrators do. He mercifully passes 
over the incidents immediately preceding the cruci¬ 
fixion turning to a discussion in which the Jews again 
become involved with Pilate. 

And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. 
And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE 
KING OF THE JEWS.” 

This was another taunt for the proud Jews of Jeru¬ 
salem, for Nazareth was a despised place, and the men 

^In relation to the term, “place of a skull,” two explanations 
have been offered, one, that it was so called because the place 
abounded in skulls; the other, because the knoll of ground in 
shape resembled a skull. 


510 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

of Nazareth were looked down upon as a lowly, un¬ 
educated, country people. “ Can any good thing come 
out of Nazareth? was a saying which we read of in 
the early part of Jesus' career. And here Pilate says 
the King of the Jews is a Nazarene! 

“ Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, 
Write not. The King of the Jews; but that he said, I 
am King of the Jews. 

“ Pilate answered. What I have written I have writ¬ 
ten." 

Pilate could not stand firm when an innocent man's 
life was at stake, but he could be determined over a 
trivial nothing, and this is quite in keeping with the 
weakness of his character. ‘‘ Thus Pilate appears a 
typical specimen of a worldly man. The good in him 
was unsupported by moral principle, and overborne by 
personal and political considerations. Compelled to 
take the leading part in a transaction where high moral 
qualities were supremely demanded, he proved himself 
to be without them, and made a great crime possible 
by his feebleness of character." ‘ Pilate soon after 
disappears from history, at least authentic history. It 
is said that overcome by remorse he committed suicide. 

“ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, 
took his garments, and made four parts, to every sol- 

‘ Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible. 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 611 

dier a part; and also his coat (or tunic): now the 
coat was without seam, woven from the top through¬ 
out. 

‘‘ They said therefore among themselves, Let us not 
rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the 
scripture might be fulfilled, which saith. They parted 
my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did 
cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.’’ 

“ That the scripture might be fulfilled.” As the rec¬ 
ord stands here it would seem as though this were done 
for the purpose of fulfilling the scriptures. But this 
is a form of expression frequently found in the Gos¬ 
pels and sometimes in other parts of the New Testa¬ 
ment. In my opinion the soldiers did not do this in 
order to fulfill the scriptures, but in doing this the 
scriptures merely were fulfilled. This of course does 
not mean that the soldiers were intentionally fulfilling 
a prophecy. But it is evident that John, the narrator 
of this Gospel, believed that when the soldiers thus 
acted they did so ‘‘ that the scriptures might be ful¬ 
filled,” that is, John believed that they were thus un¬ 
conscious instrumentalities in carrying out the prophecy 
of the Old Testament It is noticeable how John 
softens the scene by his turning away from the agony 
of the cross to this little incident. He sees in it a ful¬ 
fillment of prophecy. And then he adds another touch, 
a beautiful one: 


512 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, 
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, 
and Mary Magdalene. 

“ When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the 
disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his 
mother, Woman, behold thy son! 

“ Then saith he to the disciple. Behold thy Mother! 
And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own 
home." 

In this man, bearing more than man ever bore be¬ 
fore, even the sins and errors of the world, the heart 
of him, even in this hour of great agony, is still throb¬ 
bing for others, is still alive to the needs of others; 
and yet when he was arrested all fled and left him. 
Even Peter, the man who had been spokesman for the 
twelve, the man who had been so prompt to recognize 
the greatness of Jesus, and who, more than any other, 
had declared that never would he desert him, even 
Peter had deserted him utterly. And now,—^he who 
had declared greater truths than any other man had 
before declared, who had even claimed greater things 
for himself and the whole world than any other had 
claimed,—now at the end, when everything human is 
slipping away from him, when taunts of all sorts are 
being flung at him by the jeering soldiers and the 
mocking Jews, now in this direst moment he remem¬ 
bers his mother and the beloved disciple. It is the 
greatest example we have of entire self-forgetfulness 


TRIAL EXECUTION OF JESUS 513 

in the hour of extreme trial and great suffering. And 
again, as at the marriage at Cana, Jesus does not call 
her ** Mother ” but Woman.” According to our 
modern thought this has sounded to many almost dis¬ 
respectful; but the title “ woman ” among the Jews, as 
before stated, was a title signifying not only honor and 
respect, but loyalty, fidelity, and devotion. And also in 
a certain sense, though we of this age may miss it, was 
probably a higher title and one of greater affection than 
the one of “ mother,” even a title recognizing in a way 
the divinity of womanhood. 

According to the records that we have, the words of 
Jesus spoken from the cross are very few. No words 
of those recorded by John are mentioned in the other 
Gospels, nor are those given in the others recorded by 
John. In Luke we have the memorable prayer of for¬ 
giveness when Jesus said of those who had just cruci¬ 
fied him, “Father, forgive them; for they know not 
what they do ”; and then his consoling words to one 
of the malefactors that were crucified with him, 
“ Verily I say unto thee. To-day shalt thou be with me 
in paradise.” Luke also records that as Jesus died he 
said, “ Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” 

The only words recorded by Matthew and Mark as 
spoken by Jesus during his suffering on the cross are 
not mentioned in the other two Gospels. These words 
are the same in both Matthew and Mark. We read 


614 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

that “ from the sixth hour there was darkness over all 
the land unto the ninth hour.” At the end of that 
time, presumably after the light was dawning again, 
“ Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying. My God, my 
God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” This is fre¬ 
quently spoken of as the ‘‘ cry of despair from the 
cross,” and followers of Jesus throughout the world 
have been perplexed over this cry, have been disturbed 
by these words. 

There is a peculiarity about this statement wherein it 
differs from any of the other seven utterances from the 
cross. Each of the others is reported by only one of 
the Gospels; while Matthew and Mark unite on this one 
and it is reported by both in practically the same words. 
And then again, differing from most of the other 
utterances of Jesus, this is given us in two languages, 
in the common language of the country, and in the. 
classical Greek, which was the language of the scholars 
in those days. And these two coincide, so we have 
here a double reason for supposing that this exclama¬ 
tion is fairly well reported. 

Now is it possible to believe that he who passed 
through all the trials and tribulations, all the persecu¬ 
tions and discouragements of the three preceding years, 
did at the last imagine that the Father had deserted 
him? His first utterance from the cross is a prayer 
for forgiveness of his enemies; his last is like in char- 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 515 

acter impressing us with its entire faith and trust, Fa¬ 
ther, into Thy hands I commend my spirit/* Now 
between these two statements can we possibly insert 
this so-called wail of despair ? In the whole career of 
Jesus he kept to the one direct course of unity with 
God and of perfect and complete faith in Him. He 
was always the loyal Son of the Father, and always 
loyal to the truth that he taught. 

We all recognize the weakness of the flesh, and we 
know from things Jesus said and did, from his trials 
and tribulations, that even with him the flesh was weak 
at times, and the very most I would intimate would be 
merely a momentary spasm which passed as soon as it 
came. But there is another explanation which seems 
to me quite plausible and satisfying. 

With the Jews the first education of the child, and 
the only one considered of prime importance, was edu¬ 
cation in their sacred books. Thus the education of 
the child was distinctly religious, and they began by 
teaching it to repeat passages of their scripture. The 
Jews were also a musical people, and with them music 
was a religious affair, finding its greatest significance 
in the temple. The sacred hymn was the avenue for 
religious expression among all Jews. And so, in that 
early time, the religious hymn served an extremely im¬ 
portant purpose, both as a means of instruction and as 
a sustainer of religious ideas. And we have to-day the 


516 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


old hymn-book that was used in those times. We call 
it the Book of Psalms.’' These were the hymns of 
the people, and it was an important part of the in¬ 
struction of every boy and girl that they should learn 
these hymns verbatim. Thus it is more than probable 
that the boy Jesus, brought up in a pious family, 
should, in his early childhood, have been required to 
commit to memory the hymns that were familiar to 
every Jewish child. 

And so here is one of them, the one that with us is 
numbered twenty-two. It begins with the same words 
which were heard from the cross, “ My God, my God, 
why hast Thou forsaken me ? ” It is distinctly a hymn 
of prayer in which the difficulties and the trials of the 
earthly life are recounted, but with rejoicing and praise 
at its close. It seems to be,—we might almost say in 
literal language as well as figurative,—a description of 
the very scenes that were then being enacted around 
Jesus. For instance, in the sixteenth and eighteenth 
verses we read: ‘‘They pierced my hands and my 
feet ”; “ They part my garments among them, and cast 
lots upon my vesture.” And then comes this psean of 
praise: “Praise Him; . . . glorify Him! . . . 

For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction 
of the afflicted; neither hath He hid His face from 
him; but when he cried unto Him, He heard.” How 
much of being forsaken is there in this ? “ My praise 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 517 


shall be of Thee in the great congregation, . . . 
They shall praise the Lord that seek Him; your heart 
shall live forever.’’ And then here, “All the ends of 
the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and 
all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before 
Thee.” The despair is turned into rejoicing; the mis¬ 
fortune into the great triumph of success, “For the 
kingdom is the Lord’s; He is the governor among the 
nations.” 

Now let us suppose that the thought of Jesus when 
he said, “ My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken 
me? ” was the recollection of this old hymn, and that 
his repetition of these words was for the purpose of 
calling to the minds of the Israelites the triumphs and 
the success, which even in their early writings they had 
predicted, for the man who was now suffering before 
them, not in despair, but with rejoicing, not in the 
sense of loneliness, but with the sure sense of protec¬ 
tion, preservation, and the final glory in the saving of 
the world. By repeating merely the first line of this 
hymn, he might call to their attention the prediction 
of the glorious triumph which was to follow. Or, 
might it not even bring comfort to himself thus to 
repeat a psalm of his childhood’s teaching, in this his 
hour of great distress? Not that he was alone and 
forsaken, but that God the Father was with him there 
on the cross, even as He had been with him throughout 


518 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


his earthly life, and would continue to be with him 
forever and forever. This interpretation seems far 
more consistent with the life and teaching of Jesus 
the Christ, and thus interpreted these words, instead 
of being a wail of despair, are but the beginning of a 
paean of praise to God. 

To continue, as recorded by John: 

** After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now 
accomplished (are now finished—R. V.), saith, I thirst. 

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and 
they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon 
hyssop, and put it to his mouth.'" 

The word here translated “ vinegar " is the name of 
a common kind of wine that the soldiers were ordi¬ 
narily provided with on such occasions as this, and 
which was for their own use. It was the cheap wine 
of the country. And the soldier, about to refresh him¬ 
self with the wine, filled the sponge and took a small 
rod,—the Greek reads a hyssop stalk,”—and reached 
up and put it to Jesus* mouth. Amid all their jeers 
and taunts there was yet somewhat of sympathy there, 
for the soldier gave of his own to the relief of Jesus. 

** When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he 
said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up 
the ghost.** 

The original Greek and some translations read, 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF JESUS 519 


“gave up the spirit”; the Revised Version renders it, 
“ gave up his spirit” It was finished, that is, the hu¬ 
man manifestation of Jesus was ended, and the spirit 
released. 

So far as those who watched could understand, the 
end of this most marvelous attempt which Jesus had 
made was utter failure. Never had there been a 
greater beginning, and never, apparently, had there been 
a more complete failure. And yet, invisible to human 
eyes, invisible to any merely human thoughts, were the 
seeds of the spirit of truth which had been sown, and 
which were to spring up into a life which should never 
go out but which should go on and on eternally, until 
the branches of that tree should cover the whole earth 
and all the nations of the world should rest in its 
shade. 

It was the preparation day of the Jews, that is, it 
was the day before their Sabbath. Therefore all work 
must be done before sundown to be ready for the 
proper observance of the Sabbath. The Jews were 
very strict in their observance of this day, and they 
did not want the bodies to remain upon the cross; in¬ 
deed, according to Jewish ideas and customs, it would 
have been a great offense to have left the bodies there 
over the Sabbath. Thus they wanted the matter set¬ 
tled and everything done at once, and so they asked 
Pilate for permission to take the bodies away. 


520 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the 
first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 

But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he 
was dead already, they brake not his legs: 

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his 
side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.’^ ^ 

In the Encyclopaedia Biblica we read: “We have 
reason to believe that a lance wound was sometimes 
given to those who were crucified to accelerate death.” 
And this also might have been the reason as some be¬ 
lieve for the breaking of the legs. At least we prefer 
this more humane interpretation than to think of it as 
a most cruel form of punishment which, according to 
history, was sometimes practised among the Romans. 
Those who were crucified usually lived for hours and 
sometimes for days, but it is believed that Jesus died 
unusually soon. 

“And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a dis¬ 
ciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, be¬ 
sought Pilate that he might take away the body of 
Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, 
and took the body of Jesus. 

“ And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first 
came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of 
myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 

“ Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it 

* Not mentioned in Mark and Luke and omitted from Matthew 
except for a marginal note in the Revised Version which reads: 
“ Many ancient authorities add, And another took' a spear and 
pierced his side, and there came out water and blood.” 


TRIAL AND EXECUTION OP JESUS 521 


in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner (or 
custom) of the Jews is to bury (literally,— to prepare 
for burial). 

“ Now in the place where he was crucified there was 
a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein 
was never man yet laid. 

“ There laid they Jesus therefore because of the 
Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at 
hand.” 

Thus seemingly ended a career such as the world had 
not before witnessed! A great light literally gone out 
in the blackness of darkness! In fact the other Gos¬ 
pels tell us that there was indeed darkness over the 
land for three hours. The earthly mission of Jesus 
was at an end. He had taken the cup that the Father 
gave him to drink; he had walked the road that the 
Father would have him walk. Yet it was not God's 
will that he should suffer, but that he should do the 
right; that he should not only teach the truth, but that 
he should live the truth. And he did live it. Not 
one wrong action did he commit. Not one of those 
precepts which he has given us for our guidance did 
he violate. And history shows us that during all these 
last hard hours not once did he offer resistance. He 
was indeed the light of the world, a light which ulti¬ 
mately shall so enlighten mankind, that every human 
being shall manifest the truth as Jesus manifested it, 
until the whole world will be illuminated with an in- 


622 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

finite glory and beauty now beyond our farthest con¬ 
ception. 

It was for this that Jesus gave himself. It was in 
order that all this might come about, that error might 
drop from the world, that man might forget all wrong, 
all suffering and all sin, and might live in the truth. 
For this great goal did Jesus live and die; and he 
triumphed over death that we might know that life is 
eternal. 


XXXIV 


THE RESURRECTION 
(John XX.) 

Jesus was laid in the tomb during the last part of 
Friday, very near but probably not quite at sunset, 
because Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, and with 
them the day began at sunset of the previous evening. 
Sunday was reckoned as the first day of the week. 
Their reason for wishing the three bodies taken from 
the cross so soon was that they might not be exposed 
there on the Sabbath day, and more especially that 
there might not be an occasion for labor on that day. 
The Jewish interpretation of the law with regard to 
the keeping of the Sabbath was very strict. So it is 
quite certain that the removal of the body of Jesus 
from the cross and the placing of it in the tomb oc¬ 
curred before the sun had set on Friday evening. 

“ The first day of the week cometh Mary Magda¬ 
lene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, 
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.’* • 

The popular idea is that the body of Jesus lay in the 

tomb for three days but it was probably a shorter time 

623 


524 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


than that, that is, a part of Friday, all of Saturday, 
and a small part of early Sunday. Accounts differ as 
to how early Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre. 
Some make it apparently just as the sun was rising. 
She came there naturally expecting to find the sepulchre 
in the same condition as when left on Friday night; 
but she sees that the stone has been taken away from 
the sepulchre. Mary Magdalene was probably not 
looking for anything unusual. The body had been laid 
there that Friday night with at least the ordinary care 
common in that country. It had been too late to pre¬ 
pare the body for the grave then, so it was to be done 
this Sunday morning. This record does not state 
whether Mary looked into the sepulchre or not. It 
merely implies that she did, for the story continues: 

“ Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, 
and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith 
unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the 
sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 

Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, 
and came to the sepulchre. 

“ So they ran both together: and the other disciple 
did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 

“ And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the 
linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 

“ Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and 
went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes 
lie, 

“ And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying 


THE RESURRECTION 525 

with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place 
by itself. 

** Then went in also that other disciple, which came 
first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.” 

The body was gone, the grave-clothes were there, 
and they had been carefully taken care of. Much 
stress has been laid by many upon the condition in 
which these garments of death were found; for they 
were wrapped together in an orderly manner, the nap¬ 
kin that had been about the head lying folded by itself. 
It was evident there had been no haste. If grave- 
robbers had removed the body, they would not have 
been at the trouble of putting things in order. If some 
enemies of Jesus, opposed to his teachings, had taken 
away the body, the strong probability is that they would 
have taken the body just as it was, not waiting to put 
things in order or to change the garments, but instead, 
everything would have been left in confusion. So we 
have to conclude that had the removal been done with 
any kind of haste or violence, these things would not 
have been found in this orderly condition. This fact 
alone, though a minor one, is strong circumstantial evi¬ 
dence of the marvelous thing that had happened. 

But this comrade of Peter, that ‘‘other disciple,” 
universally accepted as John by all critics, “saw and 
believed.” Believed what? There was on the part 
of the disciples, all the time they were with Jesus, a 


526 KNOWING THE MASTEE THROUGH JOHN 

strange failure to comprehend many things which to 
us now seem quite clear. The writer of this Gospel 
attempts an explanation merely by saying, ‘‘ For as yet 
they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again 
from the dead.” Yet Jesus in talking with his dis¬ 
ciples frequently spoke of his approaching death, in¬ 
variably adding that he would soon after rise again 
from the dead. He himself certainly understood that 
he must die and rise again; indeed he had several 
times said that he was to rise from the dead the third 
day,* and yet they had not understood. 

It is frequently so with the human mind; we grasp 

I 

one thing and miss another, and so often by giving our 
attention to minor things we miss those more important 
and essential. All that Thursday in the upper room 
after the Last Supper, Jesus had talked with his dis¬ 
ciples about many things and particularly about his 
going away and his coming again; yet somehow they 
did not seem to grasp his real meaning. We remember 
that it was only at the very end of this conversation 
that they accepted his statements and told him that 
they understood what he was telling them; for when 
Jesus said, I came forth from the Father, and am 
come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go 
to the Father,” his disciples said unto him, “ Lo, now 
speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now 
* Matt. xvi. 21; xvii. 23; xx. 18, 19; and elsewhere. 


THE RESURRECTION 


527 


arc wc sure that thou knowest all things, and nccdest 
not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe 
that thou earnest forth from God.” Yet even then it 
seems they did not entirely understand him. 

But John ""saw and believed” So f«r as we know, 
this is the record of the first man in all the world to 
believe in the resurrection. Peter it appears was the 
first to enter the sepulchre. John hesitated although 
he outran Peter and was the first one there; but Peter, 
as often happened, rushed in impetuously where others 
hesitated. Yet it was John who saw and believed. 

“ Then the disciples went away again unto their own 
home.” 

That is, as we understand it, they went to their 
abiding-place wherever that might be, perhaps to 
John’s house for he had a home in that vicinity, per¬ 
haps to some temporary stopping-place. It was per¬ 
fectly natural that Peter and John should be together, 
and it is quite probable that a little group of the dis¬ 
ciples, the eleven who were left and possibly others, 
including the women who had accompanied them, had 
gathered at John’s home. We may presume this, al¬ 
though we do not know, but I like to let the imagina¬ 
tion follow them there. I like to imagine what were 
their thoughts, their feelings; and I fancy they were 
like sheep without a shepherd, uncertain, mourning. 


528 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

and more than that, despairing. And now comes this 
amazing event upon them, apparently wholly unex¬ 
pected, in spite of the fact that Jesus had plainly told 
them what would happen. 

So they, having made sure that the body was not 
there, went away to determine what to do next. 
Doubtless that had been the question with them all 
these hours since the crucifixion, what to do next. 
This man, Jesus, who as they had thought, was to be 
the ruler of the Jews, and lead the nation out of bond¬ 
age, very much to their astonishment had died even as 
malefactors die. He was not reigning as a king. And 
now comes this second great surprise in the disappear¬ 
ance of the body of Jesus. It is little wonder they 
were bewildered. 

It seems that Mary accompanied the two disciples 
when they went to the sepulchre. But she did not go 
with them when they went away. She was evidently 
overcome by her feelings, as the record goes on to say: 

But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping; 
and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into 
the sepulchre, 

** And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at 
the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of 
Jesus had lain.*’ 

No doubt Mary had all the tenderness of ordinary 
humanity for the place where the dead friend is laid. 


THE RESURRECTION 


529 


and she could not tear herself away from the spot. 
The two men had looked in and seen nothing. They 
had merely recognized the situation, noting the vacant 
place, seeing the grave-clothes lying there; this appar¬ 
ently satisfied them that Jesus was not there and they 
went away. But Mary did not go, and as she stood 
weeping she looked in the sepulchre and saw the two 
angels sitting in the place where the body of Jesus had 
lain. And they said unto her: 

“ Woman, why ^veepest thou? ” 

From the human point of view it was a time for 
weeping, but in reality, that is, from the point of view 
of the truth, it was a time for gladness and rejoicing. 
And it was indeed a time for gladness and rejoicing, 
because here was in progress a demonstration of the 
continuance of life after death, such as the world had 
never before seen. But to the angels of God it was 
surprising that she should not understand and should 
weep. Yet who of us would have understood? 

“ She saith unto them. Because they have taken away 
my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” 

And that is the wail of humanity to-day. We say to 
ourselves and to each other as Mary said to the angels, 
They have taken away my master; they have taken 
away my friend; they have taken away my beloved. 


530 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


and 1 know not where he is! That is why we weep 
at the tomb. That is why we weep when we encounter 
what we call death. And that is why Mary wept. But 
Jesus had said, “ Blessed are they that mourn, for they 
shall be comforted.’' Comfort and joy unspeakable 
certainly follow mourning. For the taking away is 
only temporary under any circumstances; is merely the 
step towards a union such as we do not now dream 
of. And this resurrection which was taking place in 
Mary’s very presence, but which she did, not under¬ 
stand, is a type and symbol of every resurrection; be¬ 
cause after the semblance and appearance of death, 
comes the realization of life eternal. 

It seems strange that Mary did not continue the con¬ 
versation. Probably at the time she saw them as men, 
rather than as angels; so that the recognition of them 
as angels was perhaps an afterthought. They asked 
her a question; she answered it and then turned away, 
overcome all the time by her grief. And is it not 
often so with ourselves on similar occasions, that our 
grief closes our consciousness to important truths of 
which we might otherwise be aware ? 

The accounts given in the other Gospels are some¬ 
what different from this of John’s, for in those Mary 
is not the only woman present and also considerably 
more is recorded as being said by the angels. Matthew 
and Mark mention only one angel, the words spoken 


THE RESUERECTION 531 

by the angel being practically the same in these two 
reports; Fear ye not; I know ye seek Jesus who was 
crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. 
Go and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; 
and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there 
shall ye see him, as he said unto you.’' Luke, like 
John, mentions two angels who said unto the women, 
‘‘ Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is not 
here, but is risen.” To continue in John, after Mary’s 
reply to the angel, we read: 

“ And when she had thus said, she turned herself 
back (or turned around), and saw Jesus standing, and 
knew not that it was Jesus.” 

Mary was seeking the body, and was looking in the 
grave for it but she had to turn away from the grave 
to find the spiritual reality, to find Jesus. She knew 
he was not there in the grave, yet she continued to 
look, as we do also. And she stands as a type of us 
all, looking for the reality, looking for the spirit, where 
it is not. But when she turned squarely about, away 
from the grave, she saw Jesus; yet knew not that it 
was Jesus. And Jesus asks of her the same question 
that the angel had asked: 

“Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? 
She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him. 
Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou 
hast laid him, and I will take him away.” 


532 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

The object for which she first came to the sepulchre 
was still in her mind: care for the dead body. Her 
thought had gone no farther than that. And we are, 
many of us, much like Mary, losing the spiritual vision 
by turning our thoughts too much to the earthly duties, 
the material things. Yet these things of the earth are 
not to be neglected, and Jesus himself taught the lesson 
of absolute faithfulness in the place where we find 
ourselves. 

And Jesus answers her in one word, Mary.” Then 
she turns and says unto him, Rabboni; which is to 
say. Master.” She questions no more; at last she un¬ 
derstands. What a revelation it must have been to 
her! We need no suggestions as to what Mary 
thought and felt after this one word from Jesus; her 
recognition and her one feeling word of response are 
all that is needed. 

“ Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not 
yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, 
and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your 
Father; and to my God, and your God.” 

This is the first message that we have from beyond 
the grave; the first message that comes to us from out 
the great unknown. And these first words that the 
risen Christ speaks to us and to the whole world, are 
fraught with deepest meaning, wondrous in all that 


THE RESURRECTION 


533 


they suggest. He says, “ Go to my brethren.” He, 
the Master, the teacher and leader, but just now risen 
from the grave, and his first word is,—to those who 
had deserted him in the hour of his greatest trial,— 

My brethren ”; and in thus saluting them he salutes 
all mankind. Go to my brethren, and say unto them, 
I ascend unto my Father, and your Father.” One 
Father who is Father alike to all! The Father of the 
Christ and of all mankind! And this Father, Jesus 
says, is my God and your God.” These words do 
not require explanation; they are so simple and plain 
in their meaning that every reader can interpret them 
and apply them to himself. There are no more im¬ 
pressive words in the Gospels, nor any which hold a 
deeper meaning concerning Jesus and his mission on 
earth. We might almost say that it is all summed up 
in just these few words: “ I go to my Father and your 
Father, to my God and your God.” This is enough 
to redeem the whole world, enough to change the 
thoughts, the beliefs of the entire race, if only it could 
but once enter into the full significance of this resur¬ 
rection scene; if it could but apprehend the full¬ 
ness of meaning in this the first message of the risen 
Christ. 

Perhaps a few words had better be said in relation 
to the first part of this message, where Jesus says to 
Mary, “ Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto 


534 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


the Father” (R. V.)» The Greek word here trans¬ 
lated “ touch ” means essentially, to take hold of, to 
cling to ”; thus “ touch me not ” would mean hold 
me not.” In the Revised Version, Margin, it is ren¬ 
dered, “ Take not hold on me.” The construction of 
the Greek has the force of “ Do not keep hold of me.” 
It would be the most natural thing under the circum¬ 
stances that Mary should fling herself on the ground 
at the feet of Jesus and reach out to grasp him. And 
this may have been what Jesus meant here: “ Hold me 
not, or keep me not, for I am not yet ascended unto 
the Father; that is, I have not yet fully entered the 
spiritual manifestation.” The fact that the transition 
from the material to the spiritual manifestation might 
not at this moment have been fully complete also may 
explain why Mary did not at first know Jesus. A 
little later we see how Jesus could at will command 
both the material and the spiritual manifestation, for 
according to the records, he appeared in the midst of 
the disciples though the doors were closed, yet almost 
immediately he could show them the proofs they 
seemed to require, in the print of the nails in his hands, 
and the mark of the wound in his side. It would ap¬ 
pear that he became visible to Mary at very nearly the 
moment of his resurrection, when the power of transi¬ 
tion from one manifestation to another was not quite 
complete, as seems evidenced by his words to her. 


THE RESUKRECTION 


535 


“ Touch me not/^ for later on he said to his disciples, 
‘‘ Handle me, and sec that it is I myself.” 

Therefore in obedience to the words of Jesus, Mary 

came and told the disciples that she had seen the 
Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.” 
Both Mark and Luke report that the disciples did not 
believe her story. Mark says, ^‘And she went and told 
them that had been with him, as they mourned and 
wept. And they, when they had heard that he was 
alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.” It was 
too great a thing for them to accept; too far beyond 
the ordinary occurrences with which they were fa¬ 
miliar, and they could not believe it. And yet Jesus 
had told them he was going to rise again. But now 
John's narrative changes to another scene: 

** Then the same day at evening, being the first day 
of the week, when the doors were shut where the dis¬ 
ciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus 
and stood in the midst, and saith unto them. Peace be 
unto you.” 

The disciples had not believed Mary when she told 
them that she had seen Jesus and talked with him; but 
now suddenly, there he stood in their midst. As re¬ 
corded by Luke, ‘‘ They were terrified and affrighted, 
and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” And this 
fear is not to be wondered at, when we realize what 


536 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


marvelous things these were that were happening to 
them. 

Thus the first words of Jesus to his assembled dis¬ 
ciples were, “ Peace be unto you.’^ This was a com¬ 
mon salutation of the country between friends, but 
doubtless Jesus used these words in part to reassure 
them because of their fears. Among his last words 
to them at the Supper had been, My peace I give unto 
you **; and now after they had fled from him in his 
distress, he seeks them out and greets them, not with 
reproaches for their conduct, but with great loving¬ 
kindness, Peace he unto you.” Then he proceeds im¬ 
mediately to identify himself: 

And when he had so said, he showed unto them 
his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, 
when they saw the Lord.’' 

Luke relates the story of this interview more at 
length. Jesus had walked with the two disciples on 
the way to Emmaus and had talked with them and 
they did not know him; but when he broke bread with 
them at their evening meal they recognized him. ''And 
their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he 
vanished out of their sight ”; or more literally, " He 
became invisible.” That same hour they returned to 
Jerusalem and told the eleven and those with them, 
that the Lord had indeed risen, and they related to 


587 


THE RESUERECTION 

them the story of their walk with him and how they 
had known him at the breaking of bread. Then as 
they thus talked, Jesus himself stood in the midst of 
them, and said unto them, Peace be unto you.'' But 
Luke says they were afraid, supposing they had seen 
a ghost, and Jesus said unto them, “ Why are ye trou¬ 
bled? and why do thoughts {doubts in one transla¬ 
tion) arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my 
feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a 
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." 

Notice that Jesus did not say that he had flesh and 
bones but that they saw him as having flesh and bones, 
that is, to their material vision he seemed possessed of 
flesh and bones. Then he asked them to take hold of 
him, saying, “ See my hands and my feet. See that 
it is I myself." In other words, “ Take the kind of 
proof which will be proof to you that I am indeed the 
one who hung on the cross three days ago. This will 
prove my identity to your material vision, your mortal 
sense; and I do this for you that you may know that 
death is not the end, but that life is eternal." 

They were at last convinced that it was indeed the 
Jesus whom they had known, who had hung dying on 
the cross but three days before, and who had been 
pronounced dead and laid in the tomb. They were 
amazed as they now saw him with all the appearances 
of flesh and blood and yet he had entered that room 


538 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 

jvithout opening the door. He was simply there 
^mong them; that was all they could say. And Luke 
continues saying, “And while they yet believed not for 
joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here 
any meat? (anything to eat—R. V.). And they gave 
him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 
And he took it, and did eat before them.” 

How was this? Doors were no barrier; they were 
shut and had not been opened, yet there he was, and 
so thoroughly did Jesus appear to them as in the flesh 
that he ate of the fish and the honeycomb. The answer 
to this question is quite simple. Always we have only 
to go to the words of Jesus for the explanation of all 
that he said or did. He had said sometime before 
that he could lay down his life and could take it up 
again. In the parable of the Good Shepherd we read: 
“ I lay down my life, (from Greek word psyche) that 
I might {may —R. V.) take it again. No man taketh 
it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power 
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” 
Jesus here was referring to the material life; while in 
contrast to this in this same parable, in verses ten and 
twenty-eight," he uses the word life, (from Greek word 
zoe) in referring to the eternal life. As before stated, 
Jesus used the word zoe, or eternal life, in connection 
with the spiritual being, the real man; and he used the 

Hohn X. 


THE RESURRECTION 


539 


word psyche, or material life, in connection with the 
external man, the physical appearance. This pecu¬ 
liarity is found throughout his use of these two words 
but most unfortunately the distinction is lost in the 
translation. 

Thus Jesus had taken up his material life there in 
the tomb. Whatever it had been before, it was now 
to him but a thing to be taken up or laid down as he 
chose. He now had complete control of all that which 
we call the external, the physical or material, the human 
being, called in the Greek the psyche. When Jesus 
manifested the spiritual life it would appear that he 
was either invisible to the disciples or else they did not 
know him as on the walk to Emmaus. And so it 
would appear that Jesus as a spiritual being crossed 
the threshold of that room where the doors were shut, 
and took up the manifestation of the human in such a 
way that they saw him as a material person as they 
had seen him before the crucifixion. In order to dem¬ 
onstrate to them, that is, to their poor, clinging sense 
of materiality, that it was indeed he himself, he showed 
them his hands and his feet and ate before them as 
a human being. John does not narrate the particulars 
with the minuteness that Luke does, but indicates the 
same thing when he says, He showed unto them his 
hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, 
when they saw the Lord.” 


540 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: 
as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you/* 

“ As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you/* 
The article “ the ** is used in the Revised Version. 
Jesus does not make any claim in this important decla¬ 
ration, that God is his Father exclusively, but he makes 
the statement most general. God is the Father, just 
as he bids us pray,"" Our Father which art in heaven **; 
and note again what he says so emphatically in verse 
seventeen, “ My Father and your Father, and my God 
and your God.’* Similarly while he sent the eleven, 
there is nothing to indicate that it was they only. The 
probability is that there were many others there with 
them. Luke speaks of a similar gathering of the dis¬ 
ciples as numbering “ about an hundred and twenty.** ^ 
Thus the disciples of Jesus are those who believe in 
him. And in sending out his disciples, he sends, in 
the same way that the Father sent him, all those who 
believe in the truth. He sends every believer as he 
himself was sent. There is no necessity of any organi¬ 
zation whatsover; no need of authority of any school, 
or sect, or church. Recognition of the truth is the 
first qualification and the next is love; the kind of love 
that Jesus prayed for when he asked “ that the love 
wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in them.** And 


‘Acts i. 15. 


THE RESUKRECTION 541 

thus most richly will the words of Jesus be fulfilled, 
“ Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, He will give 
it you ; and, He that believeth, the works that I do 
shall he do also; and greater works than these shall 
he do.” 

‘‘And when he had said this, he breathed on them, 
and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; 
{Holy Spirit —R. V. Margin). 

“ Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto 
them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are re¬ 
tained.” 

The Greek word here translated “ remit ” is the same 
word that is translated “ forgive ” in the Lord's 
Prayer; and the word “ forgive ” means “ to release, 
to give up, to send away,” literally, “to put out of 
mind.” The rendering of this passage according to the 
Revised Version is, “ Receive ye the Holy Spirit: 
whose soever sins ye f®rgive, they are forgiven unto 
them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” 

We take the word “ forgive ” on our lips every time 
we repeat the Lord's Prayer, when we ask God to 
forgive us as we forgive others. Yet how often we 
fail to render to others the forgiveness we crave for 
ourselves! So here is another declaration along the 
same line; if we ourselves forgive, then all is forgiven. 
And here too, is the reverse of the declaration; if we 
fail to forgive others their sins, then our own shall be 


542 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


retained or unforgiven. If we retain even the memory 
of their sins then our own sins are retained likewise. 
Therefore whose soever sins ye retain, they are 
retained,” if not unto the sinner, they are unto our¬ 
selves; for the splinter in thy brother’s eye is a beam 
in thine own. And great as was Jesus’ demonstration 
over material appearances, yet greater still will be the 
demonstration of what we may do if we will, as he 
himself declared when he said, ** These things shall ye 
do and greater than these.” There is also another 
thought in connection with this passage, for there is 
here in these words relating to forgiveness, a marvelous 
suggestion of that spiritual oneness, linking together 
all of God’s children, which Jesus so earnestly prayed 
for in the seventeenth chapter of this .Gospel. 

A proper interpretation and application of the science 
of psychology will show that in these simple words is 
a suggestion of a power that is inherent in every 
human being, the principle of which is as unvarying as 
the law of gravitation. I turn my hand over and let 
go the book I am holding; it falls to the floor. The 
same principle may be applied here. If you turn your 
mind over, that is, if you completely change your 
thinking so that you put out of mind,—let go from 
it,—the knowledge of your brother’s mistake, the 
thought or memory of his error, then and only then do 
you forgive entirely. If you completely free your mind 


THE RESURRECTION 


543 


of that thought which you are holding against your 
brother, then is he fully forgiven, for you then have 
no thoughts of condemnation left with which to judge 
him; in other words, you have dropped them from 
your mind as you drop the book to the floor. This 
duty rests with you and with me, with every one. 
And this is the secret of forgiveness. 

** The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive 
sins.” Jesus uttered these words at the time he healed 
the man sick of the palsy. The Son of man hath 
power to forgive/' And this power to forgive and to 
do good to others was not given to the immediate dis¬ 
ciples alone; the power is a general one and is for all 
who have faith in it, and who choose to forgive and to 
do good. We are each one of us a Son of nian,” a 
child of God, even as Jesus was. He told us to ap¬ 
proach God and to say to Him ,Our Father which art 
in heaven.” And so according to Jesus* own words if 
we will but realize it, we do have power on earth to put 
away sin and all its consequences, at least from our¬ 
selves; and we have the power to help others to do 
likewise. And it was for this work that Jesus sent 
out his disciples. , 

“ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, 
was not with them when Jesus came. 

“ The other disciples therefore said unto him, We 
have seen the Lord. But he said unto them. Except I 


544 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my 
finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand 
into his side, I will not believe.” 

Thomas was a good, hard-headed, straightforward, 
and honest man, seeing and recognizing materiality and 
the things of materiality; thus he did not propose to 
be fooled. He was looking for proofs. We have 
many such men in these days, and they are apt to pride 
themselves on their superiority; but there is another 
side of existence which such as these do not see. 

“ And after eight days again his disciples were 
within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the 
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said. 
Peace be unto you. 

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, 
and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and 
thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but be¬ 
lieving." 

‘‘And Thomas answered and said unto him. My 
Lord and my God. 

“ Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast 
seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have 
not seen, and yet have believed.” 

The resurrection proving the reality of life after 
death perhaps has done more than all else to perpetuate 
the teaching of Jesus. Yet these incidents, relating 

*A closer reading of the Greek is: “Be thou not unbelieving, 
but believing.” 


THE RESURRECTION 


545 


to the resurrection and the belief in immortality, which 
are of such vast importance, have been more severely 
questioned and doubted than any other incidents in the 
whole career of Jesus. They are, however, the corner¬ 
stone of Paul's teaching, and they have been the cor¬ 
ner-stone of all Christian teaching ever since. But 
he who reads the story of Jesus' words and acts with 
understanding, perceiving the divine truth therein con¬ 
tained, must recognize that the resurrection, wonderful 
as it was and is, is not more wonderful than the whole 
course of his life and teaching; and not only that, but 
must recognize that the resurrection is but the natural, 
hormal, the certain and sure outcome of that life and 
teaching. 


XXXV 


THE MEETING AT THE LAKE 
(John XXL) 

We now come to the closing chapter of the Book of 
John. It is distinct from any other chapter in this 
Gospel and would seem to have been added afterwards. 
Although it deals with minor matters when compared 
with the preceding chapters, it yet contains much that 
is of value. It begins: 

‘‘After these things Jesus showed (manifested— 
R. V.) himself again to the disciples at the sea of 
Tiberias (Galilee) ; and on this wise showed (mani¬ 
fested) he himself. 

“ There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas 
called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, 
and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his dis¬ 
ciples. 

“ Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They 
say unto him. We also go with thee.’' 

Let us try to imagine the situation of the disciples 
at this time. These men had been following Jesus for 
three years, learning of him and doing substantially 
what he told them to do. Now their teacher was re¬ 
moved from them. They had seen him twice under 
very peculiar circumstances yet such as to satisfy them 

with regard to his identity. They no doubt expected 

546 


THE MEETING AT THE LAKE 


547 


to sec him again, and yet they felt there was some 
uncertainty about it and in their perplexity they did 
not know what to do. So Peter said that he would 
“ go a fishing ”; and his companions replied, “ We 
also go with thee.^’ Fishing was Peter’s business be¬ 
fore he met Jesus; in fact he was engaged in that 
occupation on the occasion of his first meeting with 
Jesus. The record goes on to say that after this de¬ 
cision: 

They went forth, and entered into a ship imme¬ 
diately ; and that night they caught nothing. 

“ But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood 
on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was 
Jesus.” 

The fact of their not recognizing him may have 
either of two explanations. It may have been very 
early in the morning while the light was yet too dim 
to see clearly who it was standing on the shore. On 
the other hand, you remember that Jesus was not rec¬ 
ognized by the two disciples when he walked with 
them on their way to the village of Emmaus; in fact 
they did not know him until the solemn act of the 
breaking of bread by him. And it might have been 
the same on this occasion. 

“ Then Jesus saith unto them. Children,' have ye any 
meat ? They answered him. No.” 

*A term of affection and familiarity; used here much as we 
might say, “Boys, have you caught anything? ” 


548 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


“ Have ye aught to eat? ” is the rendering of the 
Revised Version. The word here translated ‘‘meat” 
is also translated “ food,” and it means “ anything 
eaten with bread as a relish.” It would seem that the 
expression was here used in the sense of, Have you 
caught anything? And they had not. They had 
toiled all night and had caught nothing. And Jesus 
said unto them: 

“ Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye 
shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were 
not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 

“ Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith 
unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter 
heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat 
unto him, (for he was naked,)’ and did cast himself 
into the sea.” 

In his eagerness to approach Jesus, Peter cast him¬ 
self into the sea. Impetuous always was Peter, and 
it is well that we know something of his impetuosity 
because it has helped us to understand him. Peter was 
also a great questioner, and many of the things which 
he asked of Jesus and the replies which Jesus gave, 
have enlightened us in these days, as much, perhaps, if 
not more, than they enlightened Peter at that time. 
You remember it was Peter who drew from Jesus his 

* The .word translated “ fisher’s coat ” means “ upper garment” 
Thus the declaration means simply that he did not have on his 
outer garment. 


THE MEETING AT THE LAKE 


549 


great rule for prayer: “ Have the faith of God and, 
''All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe 
that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.” 
A marvelous rule indeed; true, fundamental, and sci¬ 
entific. And if Peter had done nothing else than just 
to draw forth this great declaration, we should be 
deeply grateful to him. 

"And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for 
they were not far from land, but as it were two hun¬ 
dred cubits,)^ dragging the net with fishes. 

" As soon then as they were come to land, they saw 
a fire of coals there, and fish (a fish—R. V. Margin) 
laid thereon, and bread.” 

They had caught nothing all that night, so had not 
been able to provide food for their breakfast. But 
here it was ready for them; the fire of coals and the 
food: fish and bread. What a beautiful lesson in serv¬ 
ice this incident offers us! Jesus the Christ, who had 
passed through the crucifixion and the tomb, and who 
had risen again; who knew more of God’s truth, was 
closer and more intimate with' the spiritual nature, 
than any other man, was here providing a meal for 
his disciples. And in this act of service, providing 
food for hungry ^men, we see a parallel of that other 
service rendered by him, when he washed the feet of 
his disciples, telling them that as he served them so 
*A little more than one hundred yards. 


550 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


should they serve one another. And so here Jesus 
provided for the common necessities of his disciples; 
he performed the work of a servant, and later at this 
meal he completed his act of service by waiting on 
them. To me the picture is deeply significant, is re¬ 
plete with glory and majesty. And Jesus says unto 
them: 

Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 

“ Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land 
full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: 
and for all there were so many, yet was not the net 
broken. 

“ Jesus saith unto them. Come and dine.^ And none 
of the disciples durst (or ventured) ask him. Who art 
thou ? knowing that it was the Lord. 

Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth 
them, and fish likewise. 

“ This is now the third time that Jesus showed him¬ 
self (was manifested—R. V.) to his disciples, after 
that he was risen from the dead.” 

It was in reality the fourth time that Jesus had ap¬ 
peared since his crucifixion; first to Mary at the tomb, 
and twice afterwards to the disciples, so that this was 
the third time that he had shown himself to his dis¬ 
ciples, according to the records that we have. 

'' So when they had dined, (broken their fast— 
R. V.) Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of 

* “ Come and break your fast.” Revised Version (that is, 
“Come and breakfast”). 


551 


THE MEETING AT THE LAKE 

Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith 
unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. 
He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 

“ He saith to him again the second time, Simon, 
son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him. 
Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith 
unto him. Feed my sheep. (Tend my sheep—R. V.) 

“ He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of 
Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved because he 
said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And 
he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou 
knowest that I love thee.^ Jesus saith unto him. Feed 
my sheep.” 

This was the second time that Peter was called to 
the discipleship; first at the end of that other night of 
fishing, and again at the end of this one. To some 
there may seem to be here an allusion to Peter’s de¬ 
nial of Jesus. Thrice Peter had made his denial. 
Thrice Jesus now asks Peter if he loves him, and thrice 
he says that he does. And again three times he is told 
to care for the lambs and the sheep. 

What did Jesus mean when he asked, ‘‘ Lovest thou 
me more than these? ” Did he mean, Do you love 
me more than you love these disciples,” or, ‘‘ more than 
they love me ” ? In either instance it would seem a 
most embarrassing question to all concerned. There 

Love” in these places represents two different Greek words. 
In the first two questions the word “ love ” means to love with 
reverence. In Peter’s replies and also in the last question a 
different word is used in the Greek, which means rather, to 
love dearly, as friends. 


552 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


is, however, another interpretation. The Greek here 
is ambiguous. Some believe that these refers to 
the fish. Peter had apparently gone back to his old 
occupation. Jesus says, “ Do you love me and my 
work more than you love these ? “Are you willing 
to give this up for me?” This seems more charac¬ 
teristic of Jesus, reminding us of the occasion when he 
said, “ Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” 
Peter had been the one who first proposed this fishing 
excursion. Whether or not he proposed to give up 
his work, to leave the feeding or tending of Jesus’ 
flock to others, or whether this was merely but a tem¬ 
porary return to his original occupation, we do not 
know. But from Jesus’ words here, it would seem that 
he at least recognized a doubt in Peter’s mind as to 
his intention to be faithful to the work which Jesus 
had committed to him and to the other disciples. And 
so whether or not there was any intended reference to 
Peter’s denial of Jesus, it was entirely appropriate that 
these words should be addressed to Peter, to show him 
what he at least was to do. And if he, then the oth¬ 
ers, as well as every other one who has recognized the 
truth that Jesus taught; because when Jesus said, “As 
the Father hath sent me, even so send I you,” he in¬ 
cluded in his declaration all disciples. And he did not 
necessarily mean that any should leave their present 
occupation, but that they should discharge that occu- 


THE MEETING AT THE LAKE 


553 


pation in the light of and by the way of the truth. I 
take it that we are not to leave that duty which has 
been entrusted to us until it has been fulfilled. We 
are sometimes, every one of us, entangled in conditions 
which through ignorance we have brought upon our¬ 
selves ; we thus have duties to perform which we need 
not have had, had we known and understood. 

We have here in this chapter, an exemplification of 
that precept of Jesus, '‘No man, having put his hand 
to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom 
of God,” as well as that other one, “ Seek ye first the 
kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these 
things shall be added unto you.” Seek to be right 
and to do right and the rest follows without seeking 
even, and there will be an abundance always. But 
there should be no neglect of any opportunity, no lack 
of faithfulness in any occupation, for whatever a man’s 
occupation may be, he is to be faithful in it, always 
remembering that Jesus taught that whoever seeks to 
do God’s will “ shall know of the doctrine or teach¬ 
ing ”; that is, he shall understand the truth, and so will 
always know the correct course to pursue. 

In the parable of the “ unjust steward ” so-called,— 
though I prefer the designation, “ steward of injus¬ 
tice,”—Jesus emphasizes the thought of faithfulness; 
faithfulness even in the least of things, for he said 
in that parable, “ He that is faithful in that which is 


554 KNOWING THE MASTER THROUGH JOHN 


least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in 
the least is unjust also in much.” ^ In the Revised 
Version this passage is rendered somewhat differently, 
He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in 
much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is 
unrighteous also in much.” We are to be faithful in 
the place where we find ourselves, even though after' 
our recognition of the truth it may not be just the 
place we would have chosen had we been wiser. Once 
we have undertaken a task we ought not shirk it, 
though we may afterwards discover that we should 
not have accepted it. If we have made a mistake 
through ignorance, we should make good that mistake 
as far as is possible, though of course always doing 
the right, whatever the place or condition may be. 
Thus shall we oftentimes uplift not only ourselves and 
those about us, but the very surroundings themselves. 

When Jesus had for the third time said to Peter, 

“ Feed my sheep,” he continued saying: 


Verily, verily, I say unto thee. When thou wast 
young, (literally younger) thou girdedst thyself, and 
walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt 
be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another 
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest 


not. 


>> 8 


* Luke xvi. 10. 

’Historians suggest that this is probably a reference to the 
coming crucifixion of Peter who it is said was crucified a short 
time before the destruction of Jerusalem. 


THE MEETING AT THE T.AKE 


555 


And the narrator interprets these words thus: 

“ This spake he, signifying by what death he should 
glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith 
unto him. Follow me. 

** Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom 
Jesus loved following; 

‘‘ Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Ford, and what 
shall this man do ? 

Peter instead of thinking of his own work was look¬ 
ing after that of others; was questioning as to what 
others should do instead of thinking of what he him¬ 
self should do in answer to Jesus* words to him, Fol¬ 
low me/' And that is human nature, over and over 
again. 

“ Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I 
come, what is that to thee ? Follow thou me.** 

Jesus was here talking just to Peter, but in the broad 
sense this may be applied to ourselves and to all others. 
“What is that to thee? Follow thou me.** And so 
what others may do, or may not do, is not for us to 
question, but each is to see that he himself follows the 
Master in the way of truth. We should nevertheless 
assist others in every way that we can, as Jesus had 
in mind when he told Peter to feed his sheep. But in 
the last analysis each must himself follow the Christ, 
must follow the truth, in his own individual way. 


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